Knypersley cricket club looked resplendent in the morning sun as Staffordshire won the toss and elected to bat. Conditions were perfect, and the day should be full of runs.
James Abbotts played a loose drive and was caught at slip in the 5th over with the score on 23. Ethan Berlusconi made a fast start and played some attractive strokes. He was quick onto anything short and struck two big sixes in the power play. The Staffordshire 50 came up in the 7th over as the Cheshire bowlers struggled to find their range. They ended the power play on 60/1. They will need a score of around 300 to give themselves a chance in this game, as the wicket looks good and the outfield is quick.
Rohan Vallabhaneni chipped to midwicket in the 12th over for 17 to leave Staffordshire 65/2. It was a poor shot from the number 3, who had just started to look good. The introduction of left-arm spinner Josh Leach into the attack in the 14th over brought about the wicket of Amir Khan when he was caught at midwicket having an ugly slog at one to leave Staffordshire 69/3.
Staffordshire reached 78/3 at the first drinks break. Cheshire had bowled well, claiming 18/2 from the 7 overs after the end of the power play. Berlusconi reached his 50 with a lovely straight drive shortly after the drinks break; it had come off 59 balls and contained six 4’s and two 6’s. Callum Leese struck powerfully down the ground for a boundary in the 23rd over; it was the first one for eight overs. He then hit a towering six into nursery two balls later to bring up the Staffordshire 100. He then dispatched a free hit for another maximum onto the car park as Staffordshire looked to accelerate after a period of slow accumulation. Berlusconi then took 9 runs from the following over as the partnership began to grow.
The 50 partnership came up shortly before the halfway stage of the innings, and it was made in good time, taking only 66 balls. After another period of accumulation, Berlusconi struck back-to-back boundaries in the 30th over as he moved to 81. Leese brought up his 50 in the 33rd over when he struck back-to-back boundaries. It came from 56 balls and included three 4’s and three 6’s. Staffordshire reached 181/3 at the second drinks break with Berlusconi 89 and Leese 64*.
The Cheshire ground fielding began to look ragged as the Staffordshire 200 came up in the 38th over. Berlusconi had made his way to 99 before a Leach quicker ball bowled him as he looked to run the ball down to short third man for the single he needed to reach three figures. His innings contained ten 4’s and two sweetly struck sixes as he scored runs all around the ground. He was unlucky not to make three figures but had started to bat for himself before he was dismissed. The partnership was worth 140 with Leese for the 4th wicket as they’d batted Staffordshire into a strong position.
Joe Wright was dismissed shortly after when he dragged an attempted reverse sweep into his stumps to leave Staffordshire 217/5 in the 42nd over. Staffordshire were struggling to find the boundaries before captain Jack Hammond began to show his 360-degree game. He swept and reverse-swept well against Andrew Duffy as 11 runs came from the 46th over.
Leese reached a fine century when he drove through backward point in the 48th over, it was his eighth boundary to go alongside three sixes. It brought up the Staffordshire 250 at the same time. It had been a fantastic innings from Leese, who’d come in after Staffordshire lost two quick wickets when the power play ended. He struck another six into the car park before he was finally bowled by Will Espley in the 49th over. Two balls later, Espley dismissed Hammond for a well-made 22 as he looked for late runs.
Joe Thorne smashed 16 runs from the final over, including a huge maximum straight down the ground. Staffordshire closed on 285/7 from their 50 overs. It was a good batting display that had been anchored by the Berlusconi and Leese partnership after their poor start. Will Espley claimed 3/53, and Josh Leach varied his pace well to finish with 2/37 from his 10 overs as the Cheshire bowlers toiled in the hot conditions. Staffordshire will be happy with their total, but this game is not over yet.
Seb Botes cut Josh Hudson’s final ball of the opening over away through point to get the Cheshire run chase off and running. He struck two more boundaries off Joe Thorne’s first over as Cheshire raced to 19/0. The first one was an excellent drive straight down the ground. He then picked up a low full toss later in the over and dispatched it over long on for a maximum. Thorne got his revenge in the 4th over when he trapped Botes LBW with a full fast delivery that beat him for pace. He then bowled Ben Cunliffe with the next ball to leave Cheshire 23/2.
Hudson bowled a good, quick bouncer that rushed an attempted pull shot from James Dodds; he could only send the ball skywards to square leg, where Abbotts took a simple catch to leave Cheshire 33/3 in the 7th over. There should have been a run-out in the 8th over after there was a mix-up between Liam Chorley and Rohan Fernando, but Vallabhaneni could not gather the ball cleanly in the covers, and the opportunity was missed.
Chorley ended the power play with a textbook straight drive off Thorne to take the score to 49/3. Hudson then trapped Fernando LBW on the back leg as he tried to pull a ball that was much fuller than he’d anticipated, as Cheshire slumped to 49/4. Cheshire reached their 50 in the next over with a wide off the bowling of James Green.
Chorley then played an unbelievably exquisite shot off the bowling of spinner Tom Smith. He advanced down the pitch and smashed the ball over extra cover for six. He then cut the spinner through backward point for another boundary to end the over. Chorley then cut Green for another boundary in the next over as he moved to 35*. He was beginning to apply some pressure to the Staffordshire bowlers. Cheshire reached 84/4 at the first drinks break as the rebuilding efforts were going well.
Chorley then took back-to-back boundaries off Green after the drinks break as he moved to 44 as Cheshire neared the 100 mark. Chorley brought up a well-deserved 50 in the 21st over with a push down the ground for a single. His innings contained six 4’s and one six and had come off 54 balls. He’d batted well, but he needed to keep going if Cheshire were going to have any chance of victory. He smashed the left-arm spinner, Reid Taylor, for a huge six into the car park before late cutting Smith for another boundary as he began to put his foot down. Another boundary this time off Hudson took him to 73* as Hammond began to shuffle his bowlers around as he looked for a breakthrough.
The Cheshire 150 came in the 30th over when Chorley struck Thorne over mid off as the Staffordshire bowlers were beginning to struggle in the hot conditions. He punished another wayward delivery from Thorne past short fine-leg as 11 runs came from the over. He moved to 89 when he drove Leese through the covers before Taylor finally made the breakthrough when he had Zak Rogers caught at short fine leg by Berlusconi when he misjudged a sweep for a well-made 34. He’d added 116 with Chorley in an excellent partnership that was taking the game away from Staffordshire.
A slog sweep for six took Chorley to 97 before another maximum over midwicket took him to a superb century off only 88 balls. His innings contained eleven 4’s and four 6’s, and apart from the early mix-up with Fernando, his innings had been chanceless. Leese finally dismissed him with a smart piece of bowling just after the 2nd drinks break. He saw Chorley advance down the wicket at him, so he bowled a flatter, quicker delivery outside off stump, and Hammond did the rest behind the stumps. Chorley ended up with a magnificent 105, but Cheshire were in trouble at 185/6 with 79 balls remaining. Green then dismissed Christian Jacobs when he skied one to Leese at mid-off as Cheshire lost their 7th wicket with only the addition of two more runs.
Leese claimed his 2nd wicket as the Cheshire innings started to unravel quickly when Muizz Ishaq got himself into a tangle and could only sky a full-toss to Taylor at cover. Leese took his 3rd when Jack Collett picked out Hudson at point before Smith bowled Espley to give Staffordshire a comfortable victory by 78 runs.
The victory was set up by the batters in the first innings, who put a big score on the board, and it was backed up by an impressive burst from Hudson 2/26 and Thorne 2/49 before Leese added 3/20 to go with his 108. Cheshire had threatened an unlikely victory in the middle of their innings when Chorley and Wilson were going well, but they were just left with too much to do as Staffordshire regained their discipline and control.
A big hand must go to Dave Baker and his ground staff as Knypersley looked picture-perfect as always. The wicket played well, and no deliveries misbehaved throughout a day where 492 runs were scored for the loss of 17 wickets.
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