PENZANCE’S hopes of reaching their first-ever Vitality T20 Club Championship final are over for another year after a nailbiting four-run defeat to St Cross Symondians at Basingstoke and North Hants Cricket Club this afternoon.

On a rain-affected day which meant all three matches were heavily reduced, Penzance saw off Kent-based Tunbridge Wells to set up a showdown with St Cross Symondians who had thrashed Essex outfit Potters Bar.

Penzance travelled with a full-strength side having secured the ECB Cornwall Premier League title on Saturday without having to play due to the rain, and chose to bat in the last four.

They got off to a bad start as Christian Purchase and Basil Akram fell in the first of 12 overs to New Zealander Danru Ferns, but with just a short powerplay, the promoted Ollie Rayner hammered the bowling to all parts for his 39 from just 17 deliveries.

Surviving opener Sammy King went for seven and Rayner just a run later with 55 on the board, however 26 from just 15 balls from wicketkeeper Jack Paull plus 17 off 16 from Charlie Sharland helped them reach 108-7. Tom Dinnis was seven not out off three.

Dinnis then struck in each of his first two overs before Rayner gave Tunbridge Wells a mountain to climb by dismissing Viraj Bhatia and Freddie Freeman in successive deliveries at the end of the fourth.

Alex Williams (28 off 26) and James Poulsom (27 off 16) rebuilt the innings with a stand of 33, but Tunbridge Wells finished 15 short on 93-7 with Dinnis (2-13 off 2) and Rayner (3-8 off 3) proving key.

Winchester-based St Cross Symondians had racked up a huge 161-2 in an 11-over shootout with Potters Bar, and again chose to bat in the 12-over final, a decision which paid off handsomely.

Gregor McKenzie, who had earlier struck 33 off just 11, batted through for 55 not out off 34 deliveries, while number three Wilf La Fontaine Jackson hammered 39 off just 23 balls in their 132-3.

Seamers Ben Fletcher (2-26 off 3) and Will Moore (0-17 off 2) were the only bowlers to keep the runs down.

Needing 11 an over from the outset, Purchase went in the first over to left-arm spinner Mohammed Abbas, but bits and pieces from Akram (11 off 9) and Rayner (14 off 8) kept them in it. However, they reached halfway at 55-3, meaning they needed 13 to the over off the final six.

South African pro Grant Thomson soon made a big dent in the tally with 21 off nine before being caught off the left-arm seam of McKenzie, and with King, who ended 61 not out off 31 balls with five fours and as many sixes going well, they were in the game.

They got the equation down to 26 off the final 12 balls with five wickets in-hand, however a remarkable penultimate over from left-arm spinner Charlie Gwynn saw just five come off it and the run-out of Paull for nine.

It meant 21 were needed off the last six, but just four came off the first four bowled by McKenzie (2-30), meaning bar any extras the game was up.

King struck the last two for six, however it was St Cross Symondians that reached the final at Worcestershire County Cricket Club on September 20.