Staffordshire vs Lincolnshire at Bignall End CC.
Lincolnshire won the toss on a cold, breezy, overcast morning at Boon Hill and unsurprisingly elected to bowl first.
Staffordshire made a positive start, James Kettleborough struck two early boundaries through the covers and Sam Kelsall one through the leg side. Kettleborough then struck back-to-back boundaries to end the 5th over as Staffordshire made their way to 31/0.
The Staffordshire 50 came up in the 11th over when Kettleborough played a majestic cover drive off the bowling of Thomas Currie. It had been a strong start by the Staffordshire opening pair on what looked to be a good pitch.
Rain stopped play after the 14th over with the score on 65/0. Nicholas Keast has bowled 4 overs of tight off-spin for just 7 runs as Lincolnshire began to pull back the scoring rate.
Play resumed at 3.15 after a 3-hour and 20-minute delay, a small repair to a side screen and a lot of waiting about; the match was reduced to a 35-over-a-side contest. Kettleborough was immediately caught at backward point two balls after the restart off the bowling of Tom Shepard when Reeve Evitts nicked through to keeper Tom Keast. Staffordshire had lost two wickets in the over and were in danger of wasting their good start.
Dan Lincoln then went on the offensive, pulling off spinner James Laud for a boundary over mid-wicket, then hit a mighty drive well over the long off boundary as Staffordshire reached 87/2 after the 18th over. Kelsall was then stumped by Keast off the bowling of Laud for a well-made 36. Staffordshire were beginning to rebuild after the two quick wickets and now would have to start all over again. Lincoln struck another enormous blow over mid-on this time as he took a liking to the bowling of Laud. He then struck 3 consecutive 6s off Shepard in the following over; first he pulled him over square leg for a six into the adjoining field, then smashed him over long off. He saved the best for last, though, when he hit him for a straight six over the side screen and into the houses that back onto the ground. Laud was again deposited into the car park in the next over as the Boon Hill boundaries were proving no match for the powerful Lincoln.
Laud finally got his revenge when Lincoln went for another big hit, only to miss it and see the ball crash into his leg stump. Lincoln made 46 from just 26 balls, striking six mighty 6’s and one 4 as he looked to push the scoring rate along.
Ollie Walker brought up the Staffordshire 150 when he smashed a Keast long hop over the scorebox for another towering maximum. The next ball disappeared into the houses once again when he smashed it over the side screen for Staffordshire’s 8th six in the last 5 overs.
Matt Morris made an enterprising 16 before he chopped a catch to backward point in the search for late runs. The Staffordshire innings then came to a bizarre conclusion 3 balls later. A Lincolnshire fielder slipped trying to stop a ball in the infield, and after a lengthy discussion with both captains, the players left the field. Questions need to be asked of the umpires for making this decision. If the ground was not fit to restart play at 3.15 then the game should have been abandoned there and then, not 14 overs after starting again, when conditions had improved, if anything, with the sun out and the wind up. I can honestly say I’ve not seen this happen on a cricket pitch before. It was clear to me that the Lincolnshire players were not interested in restarting this match after the rain break. They constantly moaned about conditions there. Captain Nicholas Keast was the worst offender. The NCCA should step in on this matter, because it looked to me like they were trying to influence the umpires into calling the game off. It is up to the umpires to decide on the state of the ground, nobody else. I hope this game will be used as an example of the umpires’ word being final.
After another lengthy stoppage, it was agreed that the Staffordshire innings would be ended and Lincolnshire would be set a revised DLS target as Staffordshire still had 5 overs remaining in their innings. Lincolnshire were set 226 from 29 overs when play finally resumed.
Jake Garlick lost his radar in the first over and sent down an eye-watering 11 wides as Lincolnshire got the perfect start. Liam Hurt then began with a front foot no-ball, and to make matters worse, the free hit was excellently saved on the mid-wicket boundary by Evitts, who didn’t slip over and just returned the ball to the keeper Hawkins.
Lincolnshire’s fast start continued as they made their way to 40/0 after 5 overs. The Staffordshire bowlers had just offered too much width and were punished accordingly. An extra count of 17 wasn’t helping matters either. The Lincolnshire 50 came up in the 6th over when Laud edged Hurt to the vacant third man boundary. Keast then struck Morris for a towering six over long off to welcome him into the attack. He struck a four through the covers and then another six off a Morris full toss, which was helped over the deep square leg boundary, as 19 runs came from the 7th over. Keast continued his onslaught into the next over when he swept Hawkins for 4, then hit a long hop into the field as he raced to 44* off just 25 deliveries. Lincolnshire had raced to 80/0 from 7 overs at this stage.
Walker started with 5 wides, just to rub more salt into Staffordshire’s wounds as the extra count reached 22, 18 of those were wides. Keast was then fantastically caught at cover by Morris, as his fine innings of 45 was finally ended. Walker then took a fine diving catch on the mid-wicket boundary to dismiss Ben Jones off the bowling of Hawkins as Lincolnshire lost two quick wickets to slow their momentum down.
Walker then struck again when Laud holed out to Evitts on the square leg boundary as Staffordshire began to drag the run rate back after the early Lincolnshire onslaught. Walkers’ fine day continued when Hurt caught Tom Keast at mid-on as he misjudged a pull stroke, leaving Lincolnshire 98/4 in the 13th over. Walker had figures of 3/11 off 3 overs at this point. Twelve runs came from the 14th over as Walker was first short then full and was punished on both occasions as Lincolnshire showed they weren’t done yet.
Tom Brett, who’d bowled very economically in his first 3 overs, then bowled Jordan Cook with a beauty that pitched outside leg stump only to spin and hit the top of off stump, leaving Lincolnshire 117/5 after 15 overs. Lincolnshire were not going down without a fight, though, as Brett wheeled away from one end, 14 runs came off the 18th over that was bowled by Hawkins as Lincolnshire looked to up the tempo.
The Lincolnshire 150 came up in the 21st over when Pranav Pothula struck Morris for six over extra cover. He hit the next ball for four through mid-wicket as the pressure began to mount on Morris. Evans then cut him through point for a boundary to finish the over in style, and Lincolnshire were beginning to motor once again. Morris’ two overs had cost 34 runs.
Pothula then struck Brett for a glorious maximum over extra cover with a shot that was very pleasing to the eye. Brett’s six-over spell yielded just 25 runs, and he picked up one wicket to help restrict the scoring in the middle overs. Pothula was playing a gem of an innings, rotating the strike well and picking up boundaries whenever he could. He’d made 35* from 25 balls and added 57 for the 6th wicket with Evans as Lincolnshire needed 50 from 36 balls.
Some superb bowling from Staffordshire then followed. Hurt returned for his second spell and picked up the wickets of the dangerous Pothula and Evans as they looked for boundaries. Pothula was caught well by Walker at long on. He had to make up 20 yards running in from the boundary and then dive forward to take the catch just above the turf. He then trapped Evans LBW as he attempted a ramp shot, as Lincolnshire became desperate for boundaries as the run rate began to climb. Hurts final three overs cost just 11 runs, which shows just how good his death bowling skills are. He mixed full deliveries with sharp bouncers, and the Lincolnshire batters just didn’t have the answers in the end.
Walker picked up another wicket in the final over to finish with figures of 4/43 from 6 overs to go with his 36* in the first innings. Lincolnshire closed on 215/8 as their chase fell short in the end. Tom Brett once again bowled fantastically as Staffordshire thoroughly deserved their victory at Boon Hill.
The apparent “Slipgate” controversy may mar it, but this reporter believes that conditions were fit for play after the rain break, and Lincolnshire simply didn’t want to take the field. I hope Nicholas Keast enjoys his journey home, knowing that his side now cannot qualify for the knockout stages of this competition, as he is not a very nice man, in my opinion.
With this victory, Staffordshire now progress to the knockout phase of the competition and a well-deserved victory it was too.
A final thanks must be given to Adrian Myatt and his team of fantastic ground staff who ensured this fixture could reach its conclusion. Their tireless work should not go unnoticed, and the ground looked fantastic as ever… Well done, guys.
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