Sydney crowned Premier T20 champs after final-over thriller

For the second time in as many iterations, the Fox Cricket National Premier T20 Championships have been decided in a final-over thriller as Sydney's teenage tailender Harry Manenti clubbed consecutive sixes to steal a win over Adelaide University with two balls to spare.

In the final phase of a fluctuating play-off, the culmination of T20 tournaments held in every state and territory involving more than 100 clubs throughout the summer, 19-year-old Manenti held his nerve against 18-year-old Cooper Luke who was called on to send down the ultimate over.

Luke had not bowled previously during Sydney's innings and had delivered fewer than five overs for the Championships, but was thrown the ball with the Tigers 7-153 and requiring a further 10 runs to win.

SCORECARD - Adelaide University v Sydney, NPT20 Final

University felt they had one hand on the trophy after South Australia Sheffield Shield allrounder (and former Australia under-19 captain) Will Bosisto's unbeaten 103 lifted them to 5-162, and Sydney's initial victory surge had stalled due to a dramatic late-innings batting collapse in which they lost 5-15.

But Manenti, younger brother of Sydney Sixers spin bowler Ben Manenti, coolly belted the first delivery he received from Luke beyond the mid-wicket fence and then repeated the dose next ball.

"Young Harry is a very, very good young player, he's been out of the game for a while with injury," Sydney skipper and former New South Wales keeper-batter Daniel Smith said amid his team's victory celebrations this evening.

"But he's certainly got the ability to clear the rope, and we were pretty confident – we just needed to get away a couple of boundaries, and he got us there."

Bosisto, who packed up his life and drove from Perth to Adelaide last year with his girlfriend Olivia in the hope of resurrecting his first-class career, was named player of the final for his innings that came from 67 balls and included ten boundaries and a six.

Sydney's English import Nick Gubbins, who scored a crucial 34 from 26 balls in today's final, was named joint player of the Championships alongside Adelaide University opener and keeper Daniel Kerber.

But the final result was a disappointment for University who had remained undefeated throughout the Adelaide Premier Cricket qualifying tournament as well as all three preliminary rounds of the national series only to be overrun in the final over.

Image Id: 2FF8A375CF95421A87383A70C1B29309 Image Caption: Will Bosisto's century in the final went in vain // Cricket Australia

Sydney had also finished the three qualifying rounds in Adelaide unbeaten, which consigned last year's champions Carlton – the Victorian Premier Cricket powerhouse boasting four players (Evan Gulbis, Mackenzie Harvey, Brayden Stepien and Cameron Stevenson) with BBL experience – to third place this year.

Organisers made a format change to last year's Championships, by scheduling three full rounds of qualifying matches rather than the 2019 system whereby all teams played two matches on the first day followed by two semi-finals and a play-off on day two.

Drew Ginn, Cricket Australia's Executive General Manager High Performance who was at today's final, said while the competition remained in its fledgling stage and changes to format and timing might be considered during reviews later in the year, it had been warmly embraced by players.

The concept was introduced last year following lengthy discussions between Ginn's predecessor Pat Howard and CA's incumbent National Talent Manager Graham Manou to try and lift Premier Cricket's profile and build a stronger sense of connection within its ranks

"The feedback from players and coaches is they've really appreciated the opportunity, that's really clear," Ginn told cricket.com.au today.

"From a strategic side of things, I still think there needs to be work done on understanding what the evidence is that makes them truly feel close to the opportunity, and how that might play out in terms of acknowledgements for good performances and the like.

"There's also been some discussions around timing of the event, but we've got live streaming (through MyCricket) so there's opportunities for young kids to tune in and check out the game, and for others who are interested as well.

"So it's clearly serving a purpose, and as long as the players are getting something out of it, it's a big positive."

There is also a feeling that the tournament, which has been staged at Adelaide's Karen Rolton Oval and adjacent Park 25 precinct both years, might be better scheduled earlier in the Australia season where it could serve as a lead-in to the KFC Big Bash League.

However, that would create difficulties in staging early season competitions in individual states and territories to determine which Premier Cricket clubs win through to the national championships, and could mean it's the winners from the previous summer who begin next season competing for the Fox Cricket trophy.

Ginn said feedback would be sought from players, coaches, umpires and administrators – as it was in the wake of last year's event – to gauge what changes could be made in order to better showcase the product and achieve the optimum benefits for Premier Cricket.

"I think you just keep trying to evolve these sorts of events," he said.

"The tweaks you can make are really the key ones.

"Even hearing from last year, the adjustment of having more teams playing on the second day has anecdotally had a really positive impact.

"It gives people a real focus to feel like they're playing more days of cricket, so it's things like that we'll look at to keep improving it.

"I think radical change is not necessarily what it's about, but we're up for any ideas as to how we keep making things better."

Smith, who played 25 first-class matches for NSW and made more than 60 appearances in the BBL for Sydney Sixers and Thunder, concedes that finding any new competition into a crammed summer schedule presents a significant challenge.

But with his winner's medallion dangling proudly around his neck, the 37-year-old declared his strong support for the National Premier T20 Championships concept and hoped he would be leading Sydney back to defend their title next summer.

"It's outstanding, any chance that Premier Cricket clubs have to come and showcase themselves against other teams around Australia is extremely important," Smith said.

"It just adds another leg to Premier Cricket.

'It doesn't just stop in your state, you get to show the strength of your side and the strength of your state and also showcase your skills on a little-bit bigger stage, if not quite the biggest stage.

"This almost fills that little gap between BBL and Premier Cricket, and any chance players get to be inspired a little bit more, to train a little bit harder and maybe push for that next level is a great thing.

"I know our guys are certainly working extremely hard to try and improve their cricket and play at the next level, and hopefully this inspires them a little bit more and gives them that little bit of extra work they need to do to get there.

"It's difficult to get any extra cricket in, and it's a credit to Cricket Australia to be able to get it done at any stage of the season.

"I don’t think there's any perfect time to play it, but whatever time it's played we're happy to be here."