Captain Charlie Hinze inspired his Gorillas team to a hat-trick of Futures League titles with a stellar performance to defeat first time finalists Dragons as Coach Vinay Iyer continued his love affair with this tournament.

With his team reeling at 23 for three after five overs, Hinze combined with vice-captain Kento Ota-Dobell (38) in a partnership of exactly 100 from just 80 balls to lead a recovery to 135 for seven from their 20 overs.

Hinze struck three maximums on his way to compiling 66 from 45 balls as the two leaders first rebuilt and then unleashed the fury on the Dragons bowlers.

Max Yonekawa-Lynn (two for 18) then continued the momentum with the ball, and in partnership with Ota-Dobell (one for six), the Gorillas new ball bowlers struck three times in the first four overs. Hinze  (two for five) then took over to grab two more and leave the Dragons 34 for five in the ninth.

Skyler Nakayama-Cook excelled behind the stumps, with two catches and two stumpings in the first five wickets to fall, making sure he was just as involved as the bowlers.

Dylan Fujioka Fletcher top scored for the losing team in the final for the second year running, and he kept the Dragons hopes alive with a 37-ball 45, but his dismissal in the 16th over, to a wonder-catch by Ota-Dobell, all but sealed victory for the Gorillas, who would eventually take the 10th wicket with 112 runs on the board to win by 23 runs.

The Gorillas had booked their place in the final in the morning thanks to a stunning nine-wicket win over the Turtles, a result that relegated the latter from overnight leaders and into the third place playoff.

Batting first the Turtles had posted a reasonable total of 121 for five, thanks to more runs for Kazumasa Hiratsuka (44) while Masato Morita’s three for 25 did most of the damage with the ball.

Aaryan Waduge then got his team off to a flyer, crashing a 32-ball half century in a partnership of 92 from 69 balls with Nakayama-Cook (46*).

In the other morning game the Dragons made their first ever final by suffocating the suffering Vipers with tight bowling and excellent fielding. Their total of 101 for seven didn’t look enough, but the Vipers lacked venom in the chase and slithered to 66 for seven from their 20 overs as the Dragons won by 35 runs to top the table.

In the third place play off the Turtles rediscovered their form from Day One to win by 22 runs and leave the Vipers winless for the weekend. Gabby Hinze grabbed five for 22 inn the first innings as the Vipers bowled the Turtles all out for 142, but despite an entertaining 25 from just six balls from Rizwan Khan, the Turtles bowlers restricted them to 120 for nine as Nihar Parmar took three for seven to go with his first innings 31.

A big thank you to current South African international Tony De Zorzi who, in partnership with Ikigai Sports was on hand to hand out the trophies.

Match Summaries:

• 19th April (Saturday) 10:30 – Turtles vs Dragons (Turtles won by 6 runs)
• 19th April (Saturday) 10:30 – Gorillas vs Vipers (Gorillas won by 9 wickets)
• 19th April (Saturday) 14:30 – Dragons vs Gorillas (Dragons won by 32 runs)
• 19th April (Saturday) 14:30 – Turtles vs Vipers (Turtles won by 7 wickets)
• 20th April (Sunday) 10:30 – Dragons vs Vipers (Dragons won by 35 runs)
• 20th April (Sunday) 10:30 – Gorillas vs Turtles (Gorillas won by 9 wickets)
• 20th April (Sunday) 14:30 – Third Place (Turtles won by 22 runs)
• 20th April (Sunday) 14:30 – Final (Gorillas won by 23 runs)

Highlights:

Dragons vs Vipers

Dragons vs Gorillas (Final)

Awards:

• Best Batter: Kazumasa Hiratsuka (101 runs @ 33.67)
• Best Bowler: Charlie Hinze (9 wickets @ 3.57 economy)
• MVP: Charlie Hinze (92 runs & 9 wickets)

Final Standings:

1. Gorillas
2. Dragons
3. Turtles
4. Vipers

Kazumasa Hiratsuka inspired the Turtles to back to back wins on Day One of Futures League IV in two tightly contested matches at the Sano International Cricket Ground.

Hiratsuka struck a last-ball six to win the afternoon match against the Vipers as the Turtles successfully chased down the target of 143 with seven wickets to spare and Hiratsuka finishing 47* after Nihar Parmar’s 43 had set things up.

Hiratsuka has also impressed with the ball, taking three wickets, all bowled, for 24 as Aakash Ghimire struck 56 in the highest score of the day.

That win meant the Turtles finished the day on top after a tight win over the Dragons in the morning. Batting first they managed 114 for eight in their first innings, with Ryuki Ozeki the top scorer with 24*.

The Dragons were happy at the enough at the break, with Kaisei Doggett taking three for 12 to keep the Turtles batters in check. However, Sajid Abdullah took key wickets in the chase, and despite 39 from Kazuma Kato-Stafford, Hiratsuka kept his nerve to bowling the final over to secure the win by six runs.

That start got even better in the afternoon as Hiratsuka struck a last-ball six to win the game against the Vipers in the afternoon.

It was a tough finish fir the Vipers who bounced back admirably after a heavy defeat in game one as Charlie Hinze took five wickets for just two runs as his Gorillas side dismissed the Vipers for just 61 and then knocked off the target in 11 overs to win by nine wickets.

The afternoon brought different fortunes for both the Dragons and the Gorillas however, with the former owing much to the all-round Kaisei Doggett who made 46 before taking three for seven to help his team to a 32-run win over the two-time Champions in a match that also featured a 47-ball 52* from Kazuma Kato-Stafford.

Match Summaries:

• 19th April (Saturday) 10:30 – Turtles vs Dragons (Turtles won by 6 runs)
• 19th April (Saturday) 10:30 – Gorillas vs Vipers (Gorillas won by 9 wickets)
• 19th April (Saturday) 14:30 – Dragons vs Gorillas (Dragons won by 32 runs)
• 19th April (Saturday) 14:30 – Turtles vs Vipers (Turtles won by 7 wickets)

Highlights:

Dragons vs Turtles

Dragons vs Gorillas