With the weather forecast for much of the week preceding Sunday’s final indicating rain could torpedo all hopes of a grand finale to the season, the blanket of light grey cloud that lingered unthreateningly over North-West London was a welcome sight. The covers were packed away and the Sunbury fraternity, who had made the trip to Lord’s in great numbers to support their side, waited in excited anticipation.

Having completed the formalities of team photos in front of the pavilion and with both sides busily warming up on the outfield, the two captains, Aaron Grimbaldeston of Didsbury and Charlie Maunders of Sunbury, wandered to the middle with the umpires for the toss. A moment of hush descended around the ground as it was announced that Sunbury’s skipper had called correctly and elected to bat.

Shortly after the famous bell was rung, Sunbury’s opening pair of Maunders and Harry Kerridge strode out to the pitch. There was a punch of gloves before the two parted for Maunders to take guard and Kerridge to assume his position at the non-striker’s end. Grimbaldeston, shiny pink ball clutched in his right hand, stood waiting by the end of his mark at the Nursery End. The stage was set, it would be captain to captain, and with a call of ‘play’ from the standing umpire, the U15 National Cup final was underway.

A solid Sunbury start
Sticking to his modus operandi, Maunders walked down the wicket first ball. While his attempted cut shot yielded only a play and miss, the intent was clear: Sunbury would be positive and were not going to be overawed by the occasion. Somewhat anticlimactically, the innings got off the mark with a wide, but the following delivery Maunders scored the first run off the bat with a dab to backward point for a single from a good ball. Kerridge followed his partner in missing the first ball but his second, and last ball of the opening over, was scythed through extra-cover for four.

The Didsbury opening bowlers for the most part were very disciplined with their line and length, but the ability for Sunbury’s batsmen to rotate strike with regularity meant the scoreboard kept ticking over. On the odd occasion when a loose delivery was served up, it was often capitalised upon – Maunders carving a full ball with width over cover-point for four off Ashden Johnson, and Kerridge dispatching both Grimbaldeston and Johnson over mid-off for boundaries in successive overs. There was a moment of fortune for the batting side when Maunders was granted a life on 12 after wicket keeper Ibrahim Faisal shelled a healthy edge diving to his right off his captain’s bowling. The result was that at the six over mark, Sunbury were 40 without loss.

In the eighth over, spin was introduced for the first time in the match through the off-spin of Krishav Rangaraju. His first five balls were milked for five singles when, on the sixth, Kerridge danced down the track seeking to go big. The ball, however, alluded everyone: a swipe at fresh air from Kerridge and a missed stumping by Faisal saw it trickle to the boundary for four byes.

Maunders’ attempt proved far more successful in Rangaraju’s second over; the Sunbury captain’s fast feet got to the pitch of the ball, combining elegance with power to loft it over extra-cover and into the stands for the final’s first maximum.

Kerridge began the eleventh over by driving seamer Nikash Hinduja to the fence but, in attempting to repeat the same trick twice, miscued to provide Zac Youell with a comfortable catch at mid-off the very next ball. His dismissal ended an outstanding opening stand of 68, of which Kerridge had contributed 32 off 31 balls, laying an excellent platform from which the rest of the Sunbury innings could be built.

Didsbury keep Sunbury in check
Keeper Rishaan Mehmi joined his skipper and the pair continued to rotate the strike, but some disciplined Didsbury bowling and a slow, lush outfield meant the destructive keeper-batsman never got going. Perhaps symptomatic of a frustration at being unable to find the boundary, Mehmi attempted a reverse sweep off Rangaraju only to see his off stump removed for 7 from 12 deliveries. That brought the big-hitting Alfie Granger to the crease, but it was just the briefest of stays as he clothed the ball to Kush Patel at extra-cover first ball trying to go aerial. Didsbury were enjoying their best period of the match and had their tails up as Ayush Obhrai entered the fray.

The left-arm medium pace of Milan Majithia replaced Hinduja from the Nursery End, while the tall figure of Zac Youell took up proceedings from the Pavilion End. Maunders and Obhrai continued to consistently pick up ones and twos without ever being able to cut loose when, having just taken the total to one hundred runs, Maunders edged behind off the bowling of Majithia for a classy 45 from 50 balls. As has so often been the case throughout the season, the Sunbury skipper delivered a fine knock in a crucial game.

Obhrai and Ahmed finish well
Dan Ahmed, the new man in, got off the mark first ball with a clip off his legs for a single to take Sunbury to a nervously modest 101-4 with three overs remaining.

The combination of Obhrai and Ahmed, arguably Sunbury’s most tenacious runners between the wickets, helped inject some much-needed impetus and acceleration in a game where boundaries had been scarce. Indeed, in the following eleven balls thirteen runs were accumulated without the ball ever reaching the fence.

Then, off the final ball of the penultimate over, Obhrai pulled off a masterful piece of batsmanship. Grimbaldeston, back into the attack, sent down a length delivery outside off stump at good pace. In a premeditated shot, Obhrai got down on one knee and skilfully flipped the ball over his left shoulder, where the backpedalling fine leg fielder could only get fingertips to the ball as it crept over the rope for six. Loud cheers erupted from the Sunbury supporters in the stands, with the most raucous emanating from the Boeing’s-worth of Obhrai family members who had made the trip across the pond to watch him play.

Ahmed tucked the first two balls of the final over, bowled by Johnson, into the leg side, picking up two on both occasions, and then dug out a yorker to hand the strike over to Obhrai. His swipe over midwicket found the gap for another priceless boundary. A wider delivery alluded Obhrai’s swing on the fifth ball, with Ahmed (12 off 11) runout by Faisal attempting to sneak a bye to the keeper. Josh Cholewa had one delivery to face and got bat on a low full toss to Grimbaldeston at long-off, who’s throw to the keeper saw the new man run out coming back for a second run. It meant Sunbury finished with a score of 130-6 from their 20 overs, Obhrai unbeaten on a crucial 17 runs off 15 balls.

The Didsbury chase begins with drama
Sunbury’s defence didn’t get off to the best of starts, as Kush Patel cut the uncharacteristically loose Granger for two successive fours in the first over. However, the other Alfie in the team – that of the Bloomfield persuasion – hit his straps immediately and looked in good rhythm from the Nursery End. Indeed, he very nearly struck with his second ball: Patel top edged a sharp delivery to deep point where the athletic Albert Connors came charging in off the rope but failed to cling on to the ball as he dived forward. It was a tough chance and a valiant effort but, as one of Sunbury’s best fielders, one he would have hoped to take. Four dots rounded out the over, before Granger conceded just three runs from his second.

Tanmay Seth pulled Bloomfield to the short leg-side boundary for six as Didsbury took eleven off the third over to continue their seesaw start to the chase.

Off the last ball of the fifth over, Granger struck. Patel forced a back-of-a-length delivery to midwicket where Ibby Hussain pouched a sharp, low chance.

A tidy Bloomfield over saw Didsbury reach 34-1 after six, before Maunders brought himself on to replace Granger at the Pavilion End. His six balls cost only four runs but just as the batting side appeared to be getting bogged down, new batsman Nikash Hinduja picked up a short ball off Bloomfield for six and Seth tickled one down the leg side for four in the same over.

Sensational Sunbury spinners squeeze Didsbury
It was just a one-over spell from Maunders as the captain introduced left-arm orthodox spinner Ibby Hussain, who conceded five runs off his first set of six. From the other end, the talismanic leg-spinner Albert Connors – nicknamed ‘the wizard’ – was brought on to bowl. And it took only four balls for his magic to take effect as Seth was sent packing thanks to some lightning-quick reactions from the leggie, which saw him snaffle a caught and bowled just inches off the ground.

Hussain and Connors traded good overs, after which the Sunbury captain was welcomed back into the attack by being driven to the cover-point boundary for four by Hinduja. Having conceded a boundary off the first ball, Maunders fought back well to limit the over to seven runs.

Seeking to press the accelerator, Hinduja leapt on a rare drag-down from Connors and pulled him for six and then combined with number four Krishav Rangaraju to take Maunders for eight the next over.

With Hinduja set and Didsbury needing 37 runs from the final 30 balls with eight wickets in hand, Sunbury found themselves in urgent need of some wizardry from Connors in his last over. And, just as he has done for the entire season, the leg-spinner delivered.

While Connors very often bowls like a genius, it seems unlikely his chosen mode of attack was a Baldrick-esque cunning plan in the form of a knee-high full toss. Nevertheless, that was the delivery sent down to the hard-hitting Hinduja, who sought to launch the ball over the sight screens. However, his forceful swing of the bat did not bring about the desired connection. Rather than sailing over the ropes, the ball’s trajectory indicated it would fall well short. Worse still for the batsman and Didsbury, it was heading straight for the awaiting Alfie Bloomfield at long-off.

Tension gripped the ground like a vice; everyone knew what a pivotal moment in the match this was. Yet, where Hinduja had mistimed, Bloomfield had misjudged. The Sunbury fielder came haring in but in his desire to make sure he took the catch, overran. Realising his error, Bloomfield halted his charge and flung himself backwards. Arms outstretched above his head, he Fosbury flopped in desperation towards the ball. With his hands grasping the prize of Hinduja’s wicket, Bloomfield fell back down to earth. In simultaneous Sunbury euphoria, the crowd roared while the players sprinted over to engulf their teammate in congratulations. It was a magical moment that moved the momentum back in Sunbury’s direction.

Backing up the brilliance of Bloomfield, Maunders delivered a masterful over of off-spin under pressure. Four dot balls were bowled and only three runs scored to help Sunbury tighten the screw.

Hussain holds his nerve to seal Sunbury win
Although Sunbury were in the ascendency, the game was still on a knife edge. Didsbury were 100-3 with three overs remaining, and at the same stage in their innings Sunbury were 101-4. Fittingly, sitting among the fans in the stands was a certain Kane Williamson, a man who knows a thing or two about close finals at Lord’s.

With Bloomfield (0-25), Connors (2-16) and Maunders (0-22) having all bowled their four overs, Hussain was handed the ball. It was a change of ends for the left-armer, who now had to contend with the batters having a short legside boundary. A fine sweep for two by Rangaraju off the first ball was followed by a single and then a priceless dot ball to Ashden Johnson. The sequence was repeated: two, one, dot. A sublime six deliveries that, for the first time in the match, put his side firmly in front.

Granger was tasked with the penultimate over and four balls into it, Didsbury could only muster four singles – the right-arm quick homing in on the block hole brilliantly. An excellent yorker was again delivered on the fifth ball but a wild swing from Johnson brought about a thick inside edge that beat the sprawling Mehmi for a streaky four runs. Fortunate it may have been, but Didsbury cared not. Crucially, Granger was also unphased and rounded out the over by executing another perfect yorker that went for only one run. He finished with 1-27 from his four overs and, most importantly, had done his job in leaving Hussain with fifteen runs to play with.

First up, a flighted delivery on off stump was met with a slog sweep from Johnson, but the ball spun past his bat. Dot ball. Same ball, same shot on the second delivery, only this time the right hander made contact and pierced the gap at midwicket for four. Looking to take the short boundary out of the equation, Hussain responded with a wider, quicker ball that Johnson cut out to deep extra-cover for two. A carbon copy of that delivery was then sent down, but Didsbury’s number five failed to make contact. Another dot. With nine runs needed from two balls, Johnson knew he had to clear the ropes. And so, on the fifth ball, he came dancing down the pitch. However, the guile of Hussain dovetailed with the superb glovework of Mehmi to send the batsman back to the pavilion and all but end Didsbury’s hopes of winning. The Sunbury faithful exploded into rapturous hollering, knowing that their side were on the cusp of victory.

And that victory was confirmed a few moments later when Zac Youell clothed the ball into the legside for a single. Hussain raised his arms aloft. Perhaps only with the exception of Hugh Weibgen, the left-hander has been Sunbury’s most impactful and important acquisition of the season. Taking 1-24 from four overs along with a sharp catch had helped secure the final, but there had been countless critical performances from him throughout the season.

Indeed, that was the case for every member of the squad: in the final Josh Cholewa and Jack Marland were quietly excellent sweeping the cover and square-leg boundaries, their fielding helping to save crucial runs. But both had also put in match-winning contributions with bat, ball and in the field on Sunbury’s journey to the Home of Cricket. The same can be said for Leo Pearson, Nishkarsh Jain, Liam O’Connor and Marlee Sharp who, having been substitutes watching on from the sidelines, now sprinted onto the field to join the joyous pandemonium.

A champion team
Sunbury’s U15s had won the National Cup. If not quite by the barest of margins, it had nonetheless been a close, enthralling final against a strong Didsbury side who had consistently dispatched teams en route to Lord’s.

With medals around the players’ necks, Sunbury’s captain was handed the trophy. It was an object that embodied all the hard work every member of the squad and coaching staff had put in over the years; all the anguish and elation; the fortune and misfortune; the sacrifices by parents.

To win a national competition you have to be a special group of cricketers, and that they are. But this team are more. Each individual’s desire to do well is driven only by the desire for collective success. Led by their inspirational captain Charlie Maunders, they are always a united force that never know when they’re beaten. It is, therefore, no coincidence that seven of the starting eleven at Lord’s played their first ever game of cricket together some nine seasons ago.

A standing ovation was given by the Sunbury supporters as the team wandered over to parade their hard-fought trophy and thank those who had turned out to cheer them on. The U15s of 2025 had etched their names into club history, becoming our first junior side to win the National Cup.

Fluttering majestically above the changing room balcony, the Sunbury flag appeared to dance to the jubilant chants of You Are My Sunbury that echoed around the Pavilion.

And as the delighted crowds filtered out of Lord’s, old Father Time began to twitch. The wind had picked up and the rain blew in.

Sunbury had beaten Didsbury, and they had beaten the weather.

They were U15 National Cup Champions.