HILLINGDON cricketers took home gold and had a day to remember at the Balfour Beatty London Youth Games Indoor Cricket Finals at Lord’s on Sunday.

It was a brilliant result for the borough team, aged year eight and under, who had come through their qualifying group unbeaten at Harrow in January.

Hillingdon got their day off to a good start with a solid win over Waltham Forest, to set up a semi-final clash with Hounslow in what proved to be one of the matches of the competition.

After restricting Hounslow to 104 in their ten overs, Hillingdon were pushed hard all the way in their chase, but their batsmen showed nerves of steel to hit the winning runs with just a couple of balls to spare.

In the final, Hillingdon faced a Tower Hamlets side that had knocked out defending champions Redbridge.

Hillingdon were able to restrict them to just 90 in their innings before chasing down the total without losing a wicket.

Team manager Gordon Summerfield emphasised the value of their winter training in getting through the semi-final.

“They were calm - and stayed calm and focused under pressure. That makes the difference between winning and losing.”

Indoor cricket is one of 31 sports in the London Youth Games, Europe’s largest annual youth sports event.