PENZANCE will look to become the first Cornish side to reach the National Club Championship final on Sunday when they welcome Wanstead and Snaresbrook to St Clare (1pm).

Brad Wadlan’s men are looking to go one better than Camborne (1982), Truro (1990) and St Just (2006 and 2007) managed and face a side who won the title back in 2017.

Penzance have had an interesting run so far.

They were handed concessions by Devon sides Cornwood and Paignton in the early rounds before winning the Group 10 final by seeing off Golden Hill in Bristol by nine wickets, led by Christian Purchase’s century.

The hard-hitting opener was at it again in the last 16 when they saw off West of England Premier One leaders Bridgwater by 49 runs thanks to a hefty total of 268-8 in their 40 overs, before they thrashed Middleton by nine wickets in Sussex at the end of July to reach the semi-finals for the first time.

But Wanstead, who are second in the Essex Premier League behind Colchester and East Essex CC, will prove a real handful.

Amongst their ranks are Essex batsman Robin Das plus the talented Ali Zeb, while all-rounder Yuvraj Odera and opening batsman Haaris Usman are key men the hosts will need to keep quiet.

But while the visitors are a threat, Penzance’s four-pronged pace attack of Tommy Sturgess, Tom Dinnis, Mehran Sanwal and Josh Croom are set to provide the visitors with a real challenge.

On top of that, Wadlan is set to welcome back wicketkeeper Nic Halstead-Cleak from a broken finger, meaning they have their best 11 on the park.

Looking ahead to the weekend, Wadlan said: “Sunday is a massive day in the club’s history and without doubt the biggest game in our history.

“We have an opportunity to do something no other side in the history of Penzance Cricket Club has ever done and be the first Cornish club to reach the final of this competition. We want to make our supporters and the town of Penzance proud.”

He continued: “We have trained really well this week and got a boost with Nic Halstead-Cleak being back fit for this weekend.

“On top of that we know a lot about them and have prepared accordingly, while a home semi-final on our wicket will hopefully give us an advantage.

“But we know they are a very good side and arguably one of the top five teams in the UK, as shown by the fact they are still in both national T20 and 40-over competitions.”

While Sunday is important, the hosts still require two wins from their final three games to wrap up back-to-back ECB Cornwall Premier League crowns, starting with a visit from Redruth on Saturday (12.30pm).

Halstead-Cleak is being saved for the semi-final which means left-arm spinner Charlie Hearn keeps his place and in-form opener Jack Paull retains the gloves.

Wadlan continued: “Saturday is an important game as all games are at this stage of the season.

“Redruth have some dangerous players and we know what they bring, but with three games left and us being 24 points clear, we’ll leave no stone unturned.”

Wadlan hopes for a big turnout on both days with a victory on Sunday securing a dream final at Lord’s on Saturday, September 20.

He concluded: “We are very grateful for all the support and messages we have received and are really looking forward to putting in a performance for the town and county.”