Staffordshire v Cumbria at Carlisle CC.
Staffordshire made the long journey up to Carlisle for their NCCA trophy quarter-final against Cumbria. They lost the toss and were asked to bat first in testing conditions. Sam Kelsall and Tom Moulton negotiated the difficult early conditions well as the Staffordshire 50 came in the 15th over. It was slow going, and run scoring was not at a premium.
The Partnership was finally ended with the score on 73 when Kelsall was bowled for 38. He’d struck four 4s and one six as he got Staffordshire through the new ball period. James Kettleborough quickly came and went as he was trapped LBW for just a single. Cumbria’s good period continued when Dan Lincoln deflected the ball back onto his stumps to leave Staffordshire 80/3. Moulton continued to accumulate in the bowler-friendly conditions and was playing a vital innings for his county.
No other batter seemed to be able to hang around with him long enough to forge another good partnership as wickets continued to fall at the other end. Ollie Walker was dismissed for 10 as he was the fourth wicket to fall before Matt Morris departed for 11 as Staffordshire were reduced to 113/5. Moulton’s good knock finally came to an end when he was bowled by Louis Backhouse for 46. He struck three 4s in his 95-ball stay at the crease, and the score was 128/6 when he departed.
The lower order offered very little resistance as Staffordshire lost their last four wickets for only the addition of 10 runs as they were bowled out for 138 with 5.3 overs of their allocated 50 unused. It had been disappointing for Staffordshire after their good start. The Cumbria bowlers had been excellent after they broke the opening partnership, with Louis Backhouse being the pick of them. He finished with 4/24 and was supported well by Ben Walkden, who claimed 3/25 as they didn’t allow the Staffordshire middle-order to capitalise on their good start.
Staffordshire started well with the new ball. Sam Keeling-Wright and Jake Garlick reduced Cumbria to 32/5 with their opening bursts. Keeling-Wright was exceptional as he took 4 of those 5 wickets. The change bowlers were economical but couldn’t find any further breakthroughs as a crucial partnership between Michael Slack and Maximus Winskill began to grow. As in the Staffordshire innings, it was slow going as the ball dominated the bat once again.
The partnership reached 50 as Cumbria made their way to 82/5 in the 33rd over as the slow grind continued. It had taken 22 overs to add those 50 runs as the pair dug in, knowing that this could be the match-winning partnership. The Cumbrian 100 came up in the 37th over as they inched closer and closer towards the target. Tom Brett finally broke the mammoth stand when he had Winskill caught by Garlick with the score on 115. Winskill had made 42 from 82 balls with only two boundaries as he ground the bowlers down. The partnership had been worth 83 and had gotten them to within 24 of victory.
Keeling-Wright returned to claim his 5th wicket when he bowled Sam Bates to leave Cumbria 129/7 as the match began to reach its thrilling conclusion. Slack’s 124-ball vigil was finally ended when Garlick had him caught behind by Callum Hawkins for 43. Oddly, his innings did not contain a single boundary. He fell when only 7 were needed for victory, and there must have been nerves on both sides. Ollie Walker then trapped Nico Watt LBW to leave the score 135/9 as Cumbria were having their own collapse just at the wrong time.
Sam Sharp and the last man, Louis Backhouse, were tasked with scoring the 4 runs that Cumbria needed to win in the 3.2 overs that remained of the match. Backhouse survived the final two deliveries of Walkers over before Garlick began the 48th. It started with a leg-bye to move the score to 136/9 before Backhouse scrambled at 2 to draw the scores level before he smashed a boundary to seal a dramatic victory for the home side by just 1 wicket with only 14 balls remaining in what had been an absorbing contest between the sides.
Staffordshire will be left to rue not batting out their allocated overs in what turned out to be such a close game. If the lower order could have mustered just another 10 runs, it could have been a different story. Keeling-Wright was once again excellent with the ball, finishing with 5/26, as he almost bowled Staffordshire to the semi-finals on his own. Garlick took 2/41, but he was expensive.
It’s a case of what could have been for Staffordshire; they had their opportunities in this match but were unable to take them, as Cumbria move into the semi-finals. It has been a good effort from Staffordshire in this format, though this season. They have made it out of the group stages for the first time in three years and were only one wicket away from the semi-finals. They won three consecutive matches to advance from the group after an early defeat put them in a very difficult situation. It’s T/20 action for Staffordshire next as they take on Cheshire at Burslem CC in a double header.
Leave a Reply