The T20 competition in the Cumbria League’s Premier Division produced plenty of runs – and some eye-catching hitting, particularly from Samson Storey (Furness) and Vishva Chathuranga (Workington).
They ensured their sides got through to finals day where they will be joined by Cockermouth.
Workington beat both Whitehaven and Cleator at the Valentine Ground to book their place in the final.
Against Whitehaven they restricted the visitors to 114-6 in their 20 overs, a total which received a much needed late boost from Josh Foster (30no) and Jonathan Stewart (27).
Ben Scott was the pick of the Workington bowlers finishing with 2-15 from his four overs.
Workington raced to victory in 13.2 overs led by a lightning innings from professional Vishva Chathuranga (70no). He faced only 42 deliveries and hit seven fours and three sixes.
He and Sam Bates (25) had put on 58 for the first wicket and they raced home at 115-2.
Their second game was against Cleator and this was once again an eight-wicket win led by Chathuranga.
Skipper Doug Hughes (22) and Ben Lloyd (22no) were the main architects of Cleator’s 106-6 with Adam Chambers (2-15) the best of the Workington bowlers.
Chathuranga then repeated his heroics hitting 57no and finishing the game in the ninth over, slamming the first four balls for 6, 6, 6, 4. Callum Moffat supported with 30 off 18 balls.
The middle game between Cleator and Whitehaven was much closer and went down to the third ball of the final over.
Batting first by choice Cleator made 118-9 led by pro Dilan Jayalath (31) and Ethan Messenger (20) with Steven Holliday (3-14) and Billy Thompson (3-18) both shining with the ball for Whitehaven.
Although they lost Leo Sanczuk first ball, Whitehaven were set well on their way by pro Kevin Perera (51) and Kian Larmour (42) put on 95, although it took them to the last over to get over the line.
At Keswick the format was different as four teams took part and effectively two semi-finals saw Keswick beat Carlisle seconds and Cockermouth defeat Wigton to set-up the final.
It ended in a comprehensive victory for Cockermouth, made even more dramatic by the sound of thunder threatening in the distance.
But Cockermouth had set an impressive 174-6 in their 20 overs led by skipper Matt Sempill (61) and Josh Brown (58). James McGown (2-29) was the most successful Keswick bowler.
Keswick were 19-3 with both big hitters Paul Hindmarch and Glen Weightman back in the pavilion and things never really improved from that. They were eventually bowled-out for 69 with pro Nisala Tharaka top-scoring on 16.
Ethan Hartdie-Knight (4-19), Sempill (3-9) and Jacob Madiogen (2-7) combined to go through the Keswick innings.
Earlier Keswick had beaten Carlisle seconds by 26 runs after posting 138-6, spearheaded by an opening partnership of 62 between Ben Sharp (38) and Weightman (37) with good support later from Finn Turnbull (23).
Will Bell took 3-39 for Carlisle who were 112 all out in 18.3 overs. Opener David Rhoda (40) and Jordan Oultram (30) did the bulk of the scoring between them while McGown took 4-24.
Cockermouth had won their game with Wigton by seven wickets with 3.3 overs to spare.
Put into bat Wigton had runs in the middle order from John Reed (30), Josh Dixon (24and Jonathan Pearson (20) and reached a respectable all out total of 132 off the final ball.
Sempill (3-23) and Brown (3-26) were the main Cockermouth bowlers.
Alex Grainger (56) and Sempill (30) gave Cockermouth a solid start and they were able to finish the job with seven wickets and those 3.3 overs to spare.
Furness were the winners in the south section after a high-scoring decider against Millom.
Batting first Millom reached a competitive 168-4 with pro Nathan Waterston (62), Lachlan Wilson (44), skipper Graham Dawson (29) and Callum High (22) all making good contributions at the top of the order.
But the match-winning innings came from Furness opener Samson Storey who fired 102no off just 60 balls, hitting 16 fours and three sixes.
Caolan O’Connor (27) and Tom Smith (24) played solid supportive roles as they reached their target, 172-2 at the start of the final over.
Furness had scored even more runs earlier against Dalton as they batted first and reached 207-3.
Storey was just as impressive in this one with 80 off 40 deliveries, the bulk from boundaries – seven fours and seven sixes.
Professional Pramod Maduwantha (49no) and Smith (39) swelled the total, leaving Dalton with a huge task.
They gave it their best shot led by Adam Hunter (33), Daniel Sharpe (30) and Rob Jones (29) but they ran out of steam and finished on 145-5. Josh Shaw took 3-30.
In the other game Dalton batted first against Millom and made 134-9 in their 20 overs.
Professional Vaibhav Bhatt (51) and Jones (23) did best with the bat for Dalton as Callum High took 3-22.
But Millom didn’t hang about and knocked them off for the loss of only Dawson (59) as they reached their target from 15 overs. Waterston was 63 not out.
