National Counties Knockout Trophy Review - Week 2

Staffordshire took county cricket back to Smethwick’s Broomfield ground for the first time in 41 years but it was Wiltshire who enjoyed the experience most as they eased to a seven wickets victory in Group Four of the National Counties Trophy  

Having launched their Trophy campaign with a three wickets victory over Buckinghamshire on Monday, Wiltshire again paced their chase to perfection, this time getting home with six overs to spare with former Glamorgan batter Tom Cullen (67 not out) and Ben Draper (57 not out) closing out the win with an unbroken fourth wicket partnership of 114. 

Staffordshire’s total of 214 always looked around 40 runs light which was down to excellent bowling from left-arm seamer Josh Croom who took a competition-best five for 32. 

Croom, who is trialling with Warwickshire, took three for 11 in his opening spell and returned to help mop up the tail. 

Staffordshire’s innings was based around a fourth wicket partnership of 101 between Michael Hill and Matt Morris who both made half centuries. But there was no Nils Priestley, to provide acceleration as the star of their T20 success was sidelined by a sore finger sustained against Wales NC on Monday. 

Buckinghamshire’s hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals suffered another setback as they went down by 95 runs to Dorset at Gerrards Cross. 

Former Somerset man Sam Young took Dorset to an imposing 275 for seven with 132 from 118 balls and he shared a fifth wicket partnership of 179 with Alex Eckland (80). 

Alex Woodland responded with a half century for Buckinghamshire but their resistance was effectively snuffed out by seamer Toby Pattemore who took five wickets on his competition debut. 

Former Durham and Ireland wicketkeeper/batter Stuart Poynter plundered 171 to set up Northumberland’s crushing 255 runs victory over Herefordshire at Jesmond in Group One. 

Poynter struck nine sixes and 18 fours in a 120-ball innings before he was out to the last ball of the penultimate over. 

Ben Robinson, with 88 from 90 balls, helped Poynter add 231 in a competition record fifth wicket partnership and Northumberland’s total of 369 for seven proved far too many for a weakened Herefordshire side missing captain Matt Pardoe. 

Worcestershire staff man Olly Cox (41) and Barney Morgan (32) fired a few defiant shots in reply but Herefordshire slumped from 65 for one to 114 all out with seamer Callum Fletcher taking a competition-best six for 19. The defeat was Herefordshire’s heaviest by runs margin in the Trophy. 

The other Group One match at Kendal was also a high-scoring affair with Cumbria, runners-up in the last three Trophy finals, chasing down a target of 285 to beat Oxfordshire by six wickets. 

Jamie Harrison (98) and debutant Luke Hayes (50) shared a fourth wicket stand of 114 which, with 32 from skipper Jonny Cater and 51 from the ninth wicket pair of Prav Chahal and Darrel Williams took Oxfordshire to 284 for eight. 

Leicestershire seamer Chris Wright took three for 58 on his National Counties debut for Cumbria having made his previous two appearances in the Trophy for Hampshire Cricket Board as a 15-year-old in 2001. 

Cumbria, who got scrambled a one wicket win against Herefordshire on Monday, got home with more than seven overs to spare with Freddie Fallows (95) and Ben Walkden (60) adding 140 for the second wicket. 

Matt Sempill’s second consecutive half century completed the chase with Marcus Stables (33) and Michael Slack (24 not out) also making important contributions. 

Cambridgeshire’s Wayne White struck a century against one of his former counties but it proved to be in vain as Cheshire won a high-scoring contest at Didsbury by five wickets. 

Former Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lancashire all-rounder White struck 12 fours and a six in his second Trophy century which, with useful contributions from Joe Tetley (44) and James Sykes (35) took Cambridgeshire to 300 for nine. 

But solid batting down the order saw Cheshire home with 19 balls to spare with Alex Money finishing the job that Sam Perry (63) and Ben Kohler-Cadmore (43) started with an opening partnership of 82. 

Captain Harry Dearden, another former Leicestershire player, made a brisk 46 in a fifth wicket partnership of 92 with Money which got Cheshire most of the way to their target. 

Suffolk kept alive their quarter-final hopes by beating Norfolk by 103 runs in the other Group Three match at Horsford. 

Former Worcestershire and Leicestershire all-rounder George Rhodes again top-scored with 61 but Suffolk needed an unbroken ninth wicket partnership of 45 between Tom Harper and Dan Shanks to boost their total to 206 for eight. 

That proved more than enough for Norfolk who got only halfway with Ben Claydon undermining the chase with four wickets. 

Norfolk captain Sam Arthurton (27) was the only batter to reach 20 in an innings that contained six single figure scores. 

Trophy holders Berkshire bounced back from their defeat by Hertfordshire on Monday to beat Devon by six wickets in a low scoring contest at Exeter. 

Devon were throttled by quartet of spin bowlers and were shot out for 113 inside 43 overs with slow Luke Beaven and Rhodri Lewis sharing six wickets between them, Adam Searle taking two for 16 in his ten overs and off-spinner Euan Woods taking the new ball. 

Devon were 94 for five at one stage but lost their last five wickets for 19 before Woods made 37 not out to complete an early victory with more than 27 overs unused. 

Hertfordshire continued their impressive start to the season with a seven wickets win over Bedfordshire at the West Herts club in Watford. 

Left-arm seamer Alex Gosling took a competition-best four for 59 to dismiss Bedfordshire for 170, a total that would have been more meagre but for a last wicket stand of 47 between Jack Fuller and Alex Evans. 

Hertfordshire made untroubled progress to victory with almost ten overs to spare with Northamptonshire and former Leicestershire opener Hasan Azad making 36 on debut and David Burnell (51 not out) and Tanveer Sikandar (44 not out) completing the chase with an unbroken fourth wicket partnership of 94. 

National Counties Trophy  

Group One  

Kendal: Oxfordshire 284-8 (Jamie Harrison 98, Luke Hayes 50), Cumbria 285-4 (Freddie Fallows 95, Ben Walkden 60, Matt Sempill 51 not out). Cumbria won by six wickets. 

Jesmond: Northumberland 369-7 (Stuart Poynter 171, Ben Robinson 88), Herefordshire 114 (Callum Fletcher 6-19). Northumberland won by 255 runs. 

Group Two  

Exeter: Devon 113, Berkshire 114-4. Berkshire won by six wickets. 

West Herts CC: Bedfordshire 170 (Alex Gosling 4-59), Hertfordshire 171-3 (David Burnell 51 not out). Hertfordshire won by seven wickets. 

Group Three  

Didsbury: Cambridgeshire 300-9 (Wayne White 100, Steve Green 4-59), Cheshire 301-5 (Alex Money 64 not out, Sam Perry 63). Cheshire won by five wickets. 

Horsford: Suffolk 206-8 (George Rhodes 61), Norfolk 103 (Ben Claydon 4-24). Suffolk won by 103 runs. 

Group Four  

Gerrards Cross: Dorset 275-7 (Sam Young 132 not out, Alex Eckland 80, Ed Bragg 4-42), Buckinghamshire 180 (Alex Woodland 74, Toby Pattemore 5-52). Dorset won by 95 runs, 

Smethwick: Staffordshire 214 (Matt Morris 71 not out, Michael Hill 63, Josh Croom 5-32), Wiltshire 217-3 (Tom Cullen 67 not out, Ben Draper 57 not out). Wiltshire won by seven wickets. 

Photo credit: Charlie Carter