Canterbury Academy defend The Cricketer Schools 100 title

Having won on net run-rate in the inaugural tournament in 2022, Canterbury delivered a five-match winning streak to ensure the title remained theirs

Scorecard

Partnerships of 39 between Jaydn Denly & Freddie Fulton and then 37 between Fulton & Harry Roberts formed the foundations of a 33-run victory which handed Canterbury Academy The Cricketer Schools 100 title for a second successive year.

Having won on net run-rate in the inaugural tournament in 2022 - which saw the knockout phase of the tournament wiped out by rain - Canterbury returned to finish what they started and delivered a five-match winning streak to ensure the title remained theirs.

Canterbury won the toss and elected to bat first, and while Fulton played a steadier hand, Denly (29) and Roberts (21) kept the rate up, hitting eight boundaries between them.

Denly was the danger man, the Canterbury batter having struck a century in the opening game of the tournament against Rajasthan Academy UK. Returning for only his second appearance of the week, a classy down-on-one-knee four signalled his intent early on.

When Denly picked out Callum Berry off the bowling of Adam Pryor, Roberts arrived at the crease and picked up where Denly let off, striking a powerful blow down the ground for four, three balls into his innings.

^{Canterbury skipper, Harry Fulton}

Henry Goss (19) and Max Wood (14) chipped in down the order as Canterbury set Shenfield a target of 137.

Having taken two wickets apiece in the Canterbury innings, Arjun Bhardwaj and Callum Berry opened up for Shenfield. The duo had already shown their calibre in the tournament, having shared a highly-entertaining 183-run partnership in the group stage.

Here the pair combined for 62 before captain Harry Fulton had Bhardwaj caught by Connor Dale on the the long-off boundary rope for 19 (27).

It was a stand that put Canterbury under as much pressure as any had over the course of the tournament but Shenfield couldn't push on.

The impressive Berry finished unbeaten on 55, but aside from Bhardwaj, no other batter reached double figures as Canterbury's class told and the bowlers held their nerve.

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