Great bowling by Matt Ansell destroyed Peel and St John’s and took Cronkbourne through to the final of the Tinker Cup.

The Saints, who won the Cup last year, batted first and were well placed at 53 for 1 after 15 overs. Then Ansell struck, trapping Phil Littlejohns for 18. Skipper Ollie Webster went next after a battling 23 and Ansell ripped through the rest of the order. With splendid bowling he bemused the batsmen to return 6 -11 from eight overs. Peel lost their last nine wickets in making just 27 runs. The side were dismissed for 80 – their lowest total of the season. Stuart Mellors took 3 -36 and sharp fielding by Cronkbourne led to six catches and one stumping.

Ollie Webster took an early wicket for the Saints, but that was to be their only success. Opener Eddie Beard and skipper Max Stokoe made an unbroken stand of 67 to dash the Saints’ hopes. Beard ended on 25 not out and Stokoe was undefeated on 41.

In the other semi-final, Crosby had a comfortable victory at Ramsey. The home side lost two wickets in the first four overs before recovering to 50 for 3. Ryan Windell and Chris Langford took three wickets each to bowl out Ramsey for 81. Drew Buxton (24no) and Jack Rowlands (17no) made no mistake in earning Crosby a seven wicket victory.