The winners trophy for the eighth Madrid Solidarity Charity stayed in the Spanish capital but it was Madrid United and not the hosts that carried away the cup.
The feast of cricket, played over three days, comprised of six teams, including three from the UK. This years participants were FC Captains, Alliance CC from London, and Phoenix CC from the Lincolnshire region. Madrid and Madrid United were joined by Cavaliers CC, a team consisting of ECCL Coast players as the Spanish representatives.
Day one started with two wins out of two for Phoenix and Madrid United. Alliance and FC Captains had two losses whilst the hosts Madrid and the Cavaliers had a win each.
Day two saw a turn around in fortune for Phoenix who lost both games whilst Madrid United continued their rich vein of form with another two victories. FC Captains and Cavaliers also won both games whilst the luckless Alliance CC were now none from four.
The final day commenced with Madrid United outpacing FC Captains to ensure a place in the afternoon final. The second berth was not so clear cut. A win for Cavailiers over Madrid would be enough for George Wambeek’s side but a stubborn Madrid CC stood in their way with a 3rd-4th place play off at stake.
A sub par batting performance by the Cavaliers gave Madrid victory and with Phoenix beating Alliance the Lincolnshire outfit took the other final spot courtesy of a superior average run rate to the English outfit.
The Cavs had to settle for a rematch with Madrid CC in the third v fourth place game as the hosts also got passage into that encounter via a superior run rate to that of FC Captains.
The Cavaliers v Madrid game was a pulsating affair that swung to and fro. The Cavaliers eventually limped over the finish line by the smallest of margins to take third spot.
The final was a one sided affair with Madrid United proving much too strong for Phoenix. The Spanish side posted 226 from their twenty overs and their opponents just managed to halve that score before being bowled out with overs to spare.
The Madrid captain Ittifaq Ahmed and his side celebrated in style at the trophy presentation and were deserving winners of this years Madsol’s event. The batsmen of the tournament went to Ollie Wrightson of Madrid CC for a string of fine performances opening for hosts.
With four hat-tricks in the competition the bowling award was a more difficult decision, but the umpires eventually plumped for Vikash Singh of the Cavaliers, who bagged 6-11 against Alliance CC including four wickets in consecutive balls.
Plans are afoot already for 2016 and several of this years clubs have already agreed to return. Anyone interested in taking part in next years competition can contact the tournament organiser Jon Woodward direct on jonathan.woodward@cricketinmadrid.com and find further information on this years and previous events http://www.madridcc.joomlawired.com/t20-2015/
Madrid United CC – Madsol Winners 2015