A Great Day out for Mini Super 8’s Finalists

Sunday 12^th September will be a day to remember for around 200 young Kent cricketers. The Under 9s awoke to a warm sunny morning across the county and made their way towards The County Ground at Beckenham, some from as far afield as Dover, to compete for the title of Mini Super 8’s Champions 2021.

The teams had competed throughout June and July in local groups, made up from more than 80 entrants. The top 20 placed teams across the county were then invited to Finals Day.

A challenging day lay ahead, with 7 pairs Kwik Cricket matches standing between them and glory, against the best of Kent’s young rising stars.

Each team were to play 4 matches in the group stages, which were drawn by our very on Nathan Gilchrist earlier in the week.

Chistlehurst and West Kent CC, Bromley Fury, Dulwich CC, and Penshurst Porcupines all dominated their groups winning all 4 of their morning matches, whilst Castle Hill CC, Tunbridge Wells Warriors, Beckenham Broncos and Elthamian Rockets all w0n 3 games to finish in second place, meaning they would join the group winners to compete for 1^st to 8^th place in the play-off stage.

After lunch the quarter finals began with a clash of titans between 2 former champions, Bromley Fury and Castle Hill CC.  The Fury’s unbeaten run on the day came to an end as CHCC triumphed. Really close matches saw TW Warriors and Penshurst Porcupines come through their quarter finals by 3 runs and 1 run respectively. Elthamians put in another strong performance to win their match by 40 runs.

The semi-finals saw Castle Hill face Penshurst and TW Warriors against Elthamians Rockets.

Castle Hill set 226-1 and restricted the Porcupines to 205-2, ending their unbeaten streak.

Elthamians recovered from losing 7 wickets to set 207 for Tunbridge Wells, in reply the Warriors could only manage 204-2 thanks to some excellent bowling.

On to the final, with Previous winners Castle Hill facing 2019 runners up Elthamians Rockets.

Castle Hill batted first and started strongly with 18 runs from the first 3 overs, however the Rockets fought back, and 4 quick wickets got them back in the game, eventually restricting Castle Hill to 206 – 5. A wicket first ball was not the ideal start for the Rockets chase, but they regrouped and went on to win comfortably with 221-4.

Full Finals Day placing are below, along with a gallery of photos from the day.

During the day, coaches and umpires were able to nominate players for Magic Moment Awards, for outstanding pieces of play, great fielding, catches, or demonstrations of the Spirit of Cricket. We couldn’t give awards to all nominees but 10 were selected at random, congratulations to all those below who won awards.

Name	Club/team	Why?
Sofie	TW Super Girls	Super bowling in every match conceded less than 10 runs all day
George Clements	Chistlehurst	Brilliant catch as wicket keeper
Sylvie	TW Super Girls	2 huge hits for 5 runs and a runout with 1 stump to aim at
Oliver Simpson	Elthamians	1 handed pick up and direct hit to get a run out
Dominic Lambillon	OW Spitfires	Superb full length diving catch
Wilf	Chistlehurst	Caught and Bowled
Ollie Patton	Bearsted	Fantastic Caught and bowled
Amelie Langworthy	Chistlehurst	Wicket first ball bowled
Mason Robinson	Penshurst	Calm pick up and throw over the top to get run out in last over.
Elliot Chalke	Penshurst	Over head catch

After the past 18 month it was fantastic to see an event like this return, with pitches covering the outfield, hundreds of children playing some fantastic cricket and really enjoying themselves, along with supportive parents on the side-lines, the whole day had a great feel to it.

We have received fantastic feedback from players, parents, and coaches.

❝ Well done on the Mini Super 8s Finals on Sunday. We all thought it was a success and contributed to a positive experience of cricket for our players and their parents.❞
– – Coach – Platform Cricket

❝ It was such a great experience and day for my daughter to be involved in and for all the children and clubs to take part in.  My daughter and her team thoroughly enjoyed it, as did we her parents and brothers to watch her and her team compete❞
– – Parent – Penshurst Porcupines

❝Thank you so much for all the effort and organisation that went into today’s games. Chislehurst Imperials loved their day and had a smashing time.❞

– – Coach – Chistlehurst and West Kent CC

Thank you for your comments, it is our pleasure to be able to bring you events like the Finals Day once more, we have missed it just as much as you!

Congratulations to first time winners and 2021 Mini Super 8’s Champions – Elthamian Rockets, and well done to all our finalists for their performances throughout the summer, every team that attended finals won at least 1 match during a day of great fun and great cricket.

Thanks to the other teams that took part in the group stages and local festivals across the county, we hope you enjoyed being back out on the cricket pitch again.

1st	Elthamians Rockets	11th	Brockley Bears
2nd	Castle Hill Cricket Club	12th	St Margarets Cosmos
3rd	Tunbridge Wells Warriors	13th	SLHC Falcons
4th	Penshurst Porcupines	14th	Abbey Wood Alligators
5th	Bromley Fury	15th	Old Wilsonians Spitfires
6th	Chislehurst Imperials	16th	Bearsted Cubs
7th	Dulwich CC A	17th	Tunbridge Wells Super Girls
8th	Beckenham Broncos	18th	Sissinghurst CC
9th	Sevenoaks Vine CC	19th	Mote Mustangs
10th	Kemsing Titans	20th	Hither Green Hawks