Sadly, I have been unable to attend the match at Wem today as I was unable to leave my estate due to roadworks. Though I have been watching the live stream, such as it is, to get a report out. So here it is.
Shropshire won the toss and elected to field. The wicket had a good covering of grass on it and should play well throughout the day.
Nils Priestley offered a difficult caught and bowled chance off the first ball of the innings when he smashed one straight back at off-spinner Joe Stanley, but he couldn’t get his right hand to the ball, and it was well stopped at mid-off in the end. Priestley then skied the next ball into the vacant mid-on area as he made a scratchy start to his innings. He struck two boundaries to complete the over. The first was a genuine edge that beat short third man and ran away to the fence. The second was a slap through the covers off the back foot as 10 runs came from an eventful first over.
He then struck Oliver Smith for a towering six over long-on in the 3rd over as it looked like he was beginning to find his rhythm. Three consecutive boundaries came from his bat in the 5th over, one scored through the leg-side and two through the off-side, before he was trapped LBW by Ben Roberts in the 6th over for a brisk 34 from just 23 balls to leave Staffordshire 42/1.
Dan Lincoln then skied Anis Raza to Stanley, who took a simple catch to leave Staffordshire 49/2 in the 7th over. Wrist spinner Conner Marshall then took a good return catch to dismiss James Kettleborough as Staffordshire lost their third wicket for just 11 runs in a 15-ball period that had all but eradicated their fast start.
Ollie Walker struck Raza for back-to-back in the 11th over. The first was a long hop that was brutally deposited over the mid-wicket boundary, and the second was elegantly struck down the ground after there had been a period of accumulation against the Shropshire spinners. An edge through third man brought Walker a streaky boundary to end the 12th over as Staffordshire made their way to 81/3.
Reeve Evitts played an audacious reverse hit to find the boundary in the 14th over off spinner Matt Simmonds. He was caught and bowled from the next ball when he top-edged a conventional sweep, and Simmonds took a good catch running away to mid-wicket off his own bowling to leave Staffordshire 92/4. Matt Morris drove through the covers off the back foot in the 16th over as the score advanced to 108/4. Another boundary followed off Smith in the next over before Walker was caught on the long-off boundary by Joe Johnson for a well-made 36 to leave Staffordshire 115/5.
Morris slog-swept Marshall to the mid-wicket boundary as 9 runs came from the 18th over. An inside edge ran away to the fine-leg boundary to begin the 19th over. Smith was having problems when he attempted to bowl his slower ball and bowled two height no-balls during the over. Morris struck a boundary from a free hit through the covers before he was caught by Johnson for 24 to leave Staffordshire 138/6 with one over remaining. Joe Hawkins was bowled by a Roberts full-toss whilst attempting to play a ramp shot, as 5 runs came from the final over. Staffordshire closed on 143/7 and will be disappointed they didn’t get more after the start that Priestley gave them. Raza and Marshall bowled well in tandem, and Roberts picked up 2/15 from his 4 overs.
Johnson made a fast start to the Shropshire innings when he cut Priestley through the covers in the opening over. He then struck the left-arm spinner for a glorious maximum over extra cover before cutting the final ball past short third man as 15 runs came from the first over. A sweetly timed drive past point brought Johnson his 3rd boundary from the final ball of Liam Hurt’s second over. Sam Keeling-Wright made the breakthrough in the next over when Johnson chipped tamely to mid-wicket, where Morris took the catch to leave Shropshire 23/1.
Former Worcestershire man Thomas Fell cut the final delivery of the over through backward point as he got his innings up and running. He struck back-to-back boundaries off Jacob Garlick in the next over. The first was through the covers when Garlick bowled him a full toss, and the second was a leg glance that raced past fine leg. Shropshire raced to 36/1 after 4 overs.
Sahal Malvernkar then hacked Keeling-Wright through mid-wicket before he hit Hurt over the top for his second boundary. Hurt got his revenge with a well-directed short ball later in the over when Malvernkar got himself into a tangle and could only chip to Morris, who took his second catch of the innings. Fell then trod on his stumps after pulling a Hurt delivery away, meaning that Shropshire has lost 2 wickets in 3 balls to fall to 51/3 in the 6th over.
Finley Jones slog-swept left-arm spinner Tom Brett to the mid-wicket boundary in the 8th over as the score moved to 64/3. Marshall then swept Joe Hawkins past fine leg as 8 runs came from the 9th over. Marshall was then well caught at fine leg by Hawkins off the bowling of Garlick to leave Shropshire 74/4 in the 10th over and the match very much in the balance. Garlick conceded just 2 runs from an excellent over to go with the wicket of Marshall.
Walker then had Simmonds caught at backward point by Hawkins in the 11th over as the game began to turn in Staffordshire’s favour. Jones found the boundary off Walker in the 13th over as 11 runs were added to take Shropshire to 91/5. Morgan Ward was then lucky not to chop on as the ball went between his stumps and keeper Lincoln for a streaky boundary in the 14th over. Garlick then dismissed Jones when his ramp shot was well-caught by Hawkins on the fine leg boundary to leave Shropshire 97/6.
Ward cut Keeling-Wright for a single to bring up the 100 in the 15th over as Shropshire needed 42 from the final 30 balls with 4 wickets in hand. Hurt bowled three dot balls to begin the 16th over before Ward skied a catch to Morris to leave Shropshire 102/7. Hurt was showcasing all of his death-bowling skills, as only a single came from the over. Walker conceded only three singles from the 17th over as the equation became 38 to win from 3 overs. The impressive Garlick then had Stanley caught behind by Lincoln when he attempted a big shot through the offside. He claimed his 4th wicket when he bowled Raza with a slower ball to leave Shropshire on the brink.
Keeling-Wright and Hurt rounded out the innings by bowling tight 19th and 20th overs as Shropshire closed on 111/9 as Staffordshire won by 32 runs. After Priestley’s expensive first over, the Staffordshire bowling was excellent. Garlick was the pick, finishing with 4/17 from his 4 overs. He was tremendous and gave very little away whilst taking wickets at crucial times throughout the innings. Hurt claimed 3/17, including the big wicket of Fell, just as he was starting to look dangerous. Walker and Keeling-Wright were economical as Staffordshire secured a comfortable victory in match 1.
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