Old Tauntonians & Romsey pulled out all the stops to beat highly fancied Bridgwater in the ECB national indoor sixes west regional semi-final, but with a trip to Lord's awaiting the winners, were ruthlessly thrashed by Ferndown Wayfarers.
They were skittled for a meagre 38 by last season's outdoor Hampshire League champions, who earlier posted 122-5 and won by a massive 94 runs, writes Mike Vimpany.
But OTs shone against ECB West of England powermen Bridgwater, with Harry Tulk (47) and Joe Vaughan (26) scoring at ten runs an over and pointing their side to an eventual 117-5.
Bridgwater lost two early wickets to Matt Bampton (3-36) and Hakim Peruzi (1-19), but left-hand spin all-rounder Tom Bellinger (37) and Bristol University skipper Matt Toohey (31) rallied to put them back in the contest.
Both batsmen retired and returned to the crease with Bridgwater's score at 91, but scoring 27 off the final two overs proved too many and the WEPL giants were dismissed for 107.
But it all went terribly wrong for OTs in the regional final, where 17-year old Sparsholt College student Freddie Pittaway stole the show for the Dorset champions.
Opener Alex Sansom (33 not out) top scored as Ferndown, with everyone chipping in with key runs, posted 122-3, the highest total of the day.
Pittaway, who rushed back to Sparsholt Agricultural College near Winchester after the finals to prepare for an important examination the following morning, simply blew OTs away with a phenomenal spell of 4-21 - all four dismissals hitting the stumps, one even breaking them!
The young right-arm paceman even had a hand in Miles Lewis's 2-17 return, catching Harry Tulk (17) on the back boundary wall. OTs were all out for 38 in 4.4 overs!
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here