T20 Finals Day took place on September 8 at Wheathampstead Cricket Club, with the Village qualifying alongside Wheathampstead, Watford Town and Southgate Compton, just a day after our 1st XI secured promotion to cap a memorable weekend.

Director of Cricket Phil Smith, who was part of the team, said: "The trophy is a nice bit of icing on the cake of a great season."

Due to overnight and early morning rain, the two semi-finals were reduced to 10 overs per innings. In semi-final 1, Southgate Compton won convincingly after setting Wheathampstead a target of 111.

In semi-final 2, Mill Hill Village, co-captained on the day by Shiban Sayed and Pryank Patel, won the toss and elected to bat. With some power hitters up the order, it was felt that scoreboard pressure would be the best chance to win for the Village to win the game – and that is exactly what happened. Dinesh Johnson got off to a flyer with a rapid 23 before being caught in the offside ring in the second over. At the end of the three-over powerplay, the Village were 42-1 with Mushy and Shiban at the crease, and we did not lose another wicket in the innings, closing on 116-1 (Mushy 56 not out, Shiban 19 not out). Excellent bowling in the powerplay overs meant Watford Town were always behind the rate, and the Village attack restricted the opposition to 93-4 in 10 overs (Shiban 2-0-13-1; Tariq 2-0-17-1).

The umpires decided that the Village-Southgate Common final would be a 15-over affair. This time MHVCC lost the toss and Southgate Compton chose to bat. Once again, some excellent powerplay bowling and fielding restricted the opposition to 36-0 after 5 overs, with Sayem and Tariq showing maturity and focus beyond their years. Control in the middle and death overs from Shiban, Pryank, Ibrahim, and Mushy meant Southgate Compton ended on 114-7 after 15 overs.

A run chase can sometimes be a tense affair, even for the most experienced of players. A change in the batting order from the semi-final was needed for the run chase in the final, but Aryan and Dinesh settled any nerves with an opening stand of 70 into the ninth over. A couple of further quick wickets between overs nine and twelve set a few hearts fluttering from the sidelines. Still, once again Shiban and Mushy saw the run chase home with an over to spare – Shiban doing his best impression of MS Dhoni, circa 2011, with a six over long-off to win the game.

Co-captain Shiban Sayed said: "What a way to end the season! Congratulations to all! I'm super proud of everyone, especially our club's youngsters. A special shoutout to Aryan, Sayem, Tariq, and Ibrahim, who all played with such high maturity. The club's future is looking so good."

T20 Finals Day (lower/regional divisions)
Semi-final: Mill Hill Village (116-1 in 10 overs) beat Watford Town (93-4 in 10 overs) by 23 runs.
Final: Mill Hill Village (117-3 in 14 overs) beat Southgate Compton (114-7 in 15 overs) by 7 wickets.