Lancashire Lions Visually Impaired Cricket Club reached the final of a Twenty20 cup for the first time in their history.

But despite a valiant effort they lost out on the crown in the final over in a thrilling game. The ‘Finals Day’ took place in Highgate, London where the Lions, battled it out for the national crown against Sussex Sharks, London Metro and the Warwickshire Bears.

After despatching Warwickshire, the Lions faced Sussex in the final.

Sussex sent Lancashire into bat who battled well to put up a competitive 149/7, with Usman, Wasim Afridi, George Ferguson and captain Sheraz Chohan scoring well.

With the ball Chohan led from the front and bagged two wickets for 20 runs.

He was backed up well by Arslan Sabir who gave away only 10 runs from his three overs. The pressure then fell on Mohammed Salim Patel to bowl the final over. Sussex needed seven runs off six balls.

Salim said: “I was flapping like a fish out of water.” But he bowled very well and took the game to the last ball. Sussex though managed to reach their target and lifted the trophy.

The Lions had made history for themselves as they’d reached the final for the first time and managed to take their opponents to the very last ball.

It has been a great season for the side with the Development team winning the Brian Johnston Memorial Trust Development Festival and finishing runners-up in the league. The national side also finished runners-up in the league and got to the semi-finals of the British Blind Sport Primary Club Heindrich Swanepoel Memorial Cup.