Staffordshire men’s white ball campaign got off to a losing start at West Bromwich Dartmouth CC today, where they were beaten by 105 runs by Norfolk.
Staffs won the toss and elected to field, they made early inroads when Sam Arthurton was caught behind by the bowling of Jake Garlick for 9, leaving Norfolk 29/1. That was soon 34/2 when Ben Wilcox was caught by Ollie Walker off the bowling of Keeling-Wright for just 4 runs. That was as good as it got for the early breakthrough.
Norfolk built a large 4th wicket stand that was taking the game away from Staffs before it was eventually broken by Reeve Evitts, who had Charlie Hood caught behind for 65. Hood hit eight 4s and shared a stand with Alfie Cooper, who made 89 before Evitts had him caught behind too. The Hood/Cooper partnership added 160 to lift Norfolk from 52/3 to 212/4.
Some quick scoring late on by Hamidullah Qadri pushed the Norfolk score over 300 and left Staffs with a tough chase. Qadri hit five 4s and three 6s in his unbeaten 63 from 44 deliveries.
Jake Garlick was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 3/68 from 9 overs. Evitts claimed 2/31 from his 5.
Staffs lost Matt Morris early, fresh off his 80 for club side Leek yesterday. Morris flashed at a wide delivery from Nathan Mudderidge only to edge it behind to keeper Charlie hood for 8.
Evitts and opener Sam Kelsall took the score to 45 before Evitts skied a catch to Wilcox, again off the bowling of Mudderidge, for 18. Kelsall was caught down the legside off Mudderidge for 17, leaving staffs struggling at 48/3.
Ollie Walker was caught at slip by Arthurton to give Mudderidge his 4th wicket. Mudderidge’s opening spell had blown away the Staffs top order, which they never really recovered from.
Captain Kettleborough made 55 – the only real contribution by a Staffs batsman as they were bowled out for 207 with 8 overs unused. This was a rather disappointing result for Staffs who’s form in the 50 over competition has been poor for several seasons now.
Staffordshire women were beaten in their Vitality T20 women’s county cup fixture against Cumbria women at Meakins cricket club today.
Cumbria batted first and made 162/7 from their 20 overs. After an early wicket, Laura Marshall struck 63 from 35 balls. Her innings contained six 4s and five 6s; she received support from wicket keeper Alice Heaton, who made an unbeaten 31 from 26 balls.
Staffordshire’s chase began poorly when Lydia Perry was bowled first ball to leave Staffs 1/1. There was some lusty hitting from Megan Pittman, who struck eight 4s and a 6 in her 45 from 27 balls. But regular wickets fell, and only some late order hitting from number 9, Anusha Chauhan, who scored 28 from 14 balls, which contained three 6s, lifted Staffs to a respectable 131 all out with 3.5 overs unused. This made the result look a lot closer than it should have been, with Cumbria triumphing by 31 runs.
