OVINGTON retained the HPH Cup after ultimately hammering Hirst Courtney in the final at Clifton Alliance.

They won by a massive margin of 154 runs but it was not all plain sailing early on as second division Hirst had the Knavesmire side rocking.

They were 0-2 after the first over as Jake Wild threatened the Ovington batting virtually with every ball. Neil Metcalfe (17) lasted longer than his fellow top-order batsman, but his dismissal left Ovington 33-4.

With captain Barry Steel getting out soon after, and a score of 48-5 on the board, retaining the trophy looked a tough ask.

But Joe Whale, batting at five, steadied the ship with 32 from 69 deliveries. He was accompanied by Matt Besford, who played a near-perfect innings, ending up at a run-a-ball 96 not out, the pair putting on 92.

Stefan Littlewood, after a slow start, hit a spectacular 54 from 34 balls, including two enormous straight sixes - with one being caught one-handed through a crowd of spectators by team-mate Craig Nicoll.

The barrage of late hitting by Ovington saw a rough situation turn into the imposing total of 236-6, Wild finishing with 4-40 from his ten overs. Jamie Hinchcliffe took the other two wickets to fall.

With a huge target, Hirst needed a good start and with their top order in good form of late, they might have fancied their chances.

However, Ben Copeland was dismissed by Steel with the score at 18 and the dangerous Phil Alford, who had hit a century against Ovington II the previous week, only managed three.

A full-scale collapse then ensued with Dom Kitching having an incredible spell of 4-5 in four overs.

He and Steel (4-22) did the damage as Hirst subsided to 36-9 before Luke Mitchell (18no) and Niall Langhan (20) put on more than 40 in a determined last stand to bring Hirst to 82.

The trophy was presented to winning captain Barry Steel by Robert Woolley, a partner with sponsors HPH.