Shropshire again won the toss and elected to field.
Nils Priestley took 10 runs from the opening over, bowled by Joe Stanley. He struck a six and four to get the Staffordshire innings off to a good start.
James Kettleborough struck a boundary over mid-wicket in the 2nd over before he was well-caught by keeper Morgan Ward off the bowling of Ben Roberts. To leave Staffs 16/1 at the end of the over. Dan Lincoln then struck a boundary over point in the next over before being caught by Thomas Fell off the bowling of Oliver Smith to leave Staffordshire 21/2.
Reeve Evitts advanced down the pitch and smashed Smith for a boundary through mid-wicket to end the 5th over. He was then caught behind in the next over off the bowling of Roberts when he attempted to score through the offside. Priestley struck Stanley for a maximum straight down the ground in the 9th over before Stanley got his revenge when Priestley advanced down the pitch only to be bowled from the final ball of the over to leave the score 51/4.
Ollie Walker and Matt Morris accumulated steadily through the middle overs before Morris found a rare boundary with a reverse sweep off the bowling of Anis Raza in the 12th over. Scoring had been difficult in the middle overs as the Shropshire bowlers strangled the scoring. Walker continued to accumulate before he struck two mighty sixes in the 15th over. The first was a pull shot over mid-wicket, the second was a towering blow over mid-on as he looked to put his foot down in the final 5 overs.
Morris perished in the next over when he was caught on the long off boundary by Fell off the bowling of Matt Simmonds for 19 to leave Staffordshire 94/5.
Joe Hawkins struck Stanley through the covers for a boundary in the 16th over before he hit George McCormick down the ground for another boundary in the 17th over. Walker struck the first ball of the 19th over for a giant six over long on before Hawkins added another maximum when he struck Smith back over his head as 16 runs came from the over.
Walker brought up his 50 in the final over when he slog-swept seamer Roberts over the mid-wicket boundary for his 4th six of the innings. Hawkins hit back-to-back boundaries from the final two balls of the innings when he first clipped Roberts through the leg-side, then lifted him over extra cover as Staffordshire closed on 148/5. Walker and Hawkins had added an unbeaten 54 in just 28 balls as Staffordshire finished strongly. Hawkins made an excellent 33* from just 18 balls whilst Walker finished unbeaten on 51 from 35 balls. Roberts again was the pick of the Shropshire bowlers as he finished with 2/31 from his 4 overs.
Sahal Malvernkar got Shropshire’s innings off to a flying start when he struck Priestley through extra cover for a boundary before hitting him straight down the ground for a maximum as 12 runs came from the 1st over. Joe Johnson drove Liam Hurt through the covers before cutting him past point for another boundary as Shropshire raced to 20/2 after 2 overs. Malvernkar then pulled Keeling-Wright through mid-wicket before smashing him down the ground as 10 runs were added in the 3rd over.
The onslaught continued into the 4th over, which was bowled by Jacob Garlick. Malvernkar pulled a short ball past fine leg before driving him down the ground for his second maximum as he raced to 35* from just 11 balls. 17 runs came from the over as Shropshire were making the most of the powerplay. Johnson pulled Keeling-Wright through mid-wicket for another boundary in the next over as the Shropshire 50 came up from just 27 balls.
Malvernkar then struck another six to welcome Hurt back into the attack. He picked up a back-of-length delivery and smashed it over the mid-wicket fence as he moved to 41*. Hurt followed it up with a beamer that beat keeper Lincoln and ran away for four byes, as 11 runs had come from one legal delivery in the over so far. Four further runs were scored from the over as Shropshire had raced to 70/0 at the end of the 6-over powerplay.
Johnson then cut Walker for a boundary behind point before he holed out to Keeling-Wright for 23 as Staffordshire finally made the breakthrough in the 7th over with the score on 74. Thomas Fell then pulled a Tom Brett short ball to the square leg boundary as the score moved to 79/1 in the 8th over. Malvernkar raced to his 50 from just 27 balls when he smashed Brett through the covers in the 10th over. His 50 contained five boundaries and three sweetly struck sixes as he put his side into a strong position.
He found the boundary twice more in the next over off the bowling of Garlick, who was punished for dropping short when he was smashed through mid-wicket before he was slapped over mid-on as the Shropshire 100 came up in the 11th over. A 4th maximum followed in the next over when Brett was deposited over his head as Staffordshire had no answer to his power.
Fell pulled a Walker short ball to the mid-wicket boundary in the 13th over as the score moved to 118/1. Seven runs followed in the next over as Shropshire were closing in on victory. Malvernkar smashed a Keeling-Wright delivery over cover in the 15th over as he moved to 76* as Shropshire needed 17 runs from the final 5 overs. A 9th Malvernkar boundary came when he drove Priestley over extra cover to leave his side 7 away from victory.
Keeling-Wright then dismissed Fell when his attempted pull shot went straight up, and Hurt took a good catch under the high ball. The partnership had been worth 68 for the second wicket and had taken Shropshire to the brink of victory. Fittingly, it was Malvernkar who struck the winning runs when he pulled Hurt through mid-wicket for his 10th boundary. He finished unbeaten on 91 made from just 50 balls as he completely dominated the Staffordshire bowling attack. He was well supported by Johnson and Fell as Shropshire completed a dominant 8-wicket victory with 11 balls to spare.
Staffordshire now have a week off before they play Cheshire at Burslem CC on the 14th of June. They’ll look to bounce back after a mixed day at Wem CC.
Leave a Reply