Hodges propels Fichley into final

Finchley's Robbie Hodges has had a topsy-turvy few days. He collected his P45 last Friday but, 48 hours later, he was booking a ticket to the final of club cricket's premier knockout tournament.

The 27-year-old opening batsman shrugged off his redundancy from Barclays Bank with a match-winning performance in Finchley's nine-wicket victory over High Wycombe in the semi-finals of the Evening Standard Challenge Trophy, the Sunday event which features the London area's leading 108 teams.

The prolific Hodges added 89 undefeated runs to his account as Finchley, champions in 1993 and 2000, cantered into next month's final at the Shenley Cricket Centre, where their opponents will be Hainault & Clayhall.

The North Londoners restricted Wycombe to 167 for eight from their 50 overs, with Hodges taking one for 26 from 10 overs of off-spin, then knocked off the runs for the loss of one wicket with 13 overs to spare.

Finchley's cricket manager Richard Johns, who skippered the victorious 1993 side, said: "It was a terrific all-round performance. We bowled and fielded really well, then Robbie batted superbly, just as he has done all season. He has scored seven centuries."

Wycombe's defeat was their second in a major cup semi-final on successive Sundays. A week earlier they went down against Leicestershire's Kibworth in the last four of the national knockout Cockspur Cup.