Yorkshire beat Shropshire by 117 runs.
Yorkshire won the toss and elected to bat in bright and blustery conditions at Higham CC. The wicket was hard but had a good covering of grass.
Dan Copping got Yorkshire off to a flying start when he struck six consecutive 4s in the 3rd over of the innings. Matthew Bailey dismissed Jasper Spooner when he chipped a delivery to mid on, and it was well caught by Ewan Woodhouse, to leave Yorkshire 33/1 in the 4th over.
Left-armer Bailey bowled with good pace as he settled into his rhythm; he and Oliver Harrison then began to drag the scoring rate back. Bailey was especially accurate, consistently hitting a good length and offering nothing loose to the batters. Bailey got a further reward for his good bowling when he bowled Archie Atkins-Sloan for 10. Bailey beat Atkins-Sloan for pace as he tried to pull a ball that was too full, and it crashed into the top of the middle stump, leaving Yorkshire 47/2 after 10 overs. Bailey ended his first spell with figures of 5-2-9-2.
Copping, who was batting with real ease, brought up his half-century with a big blow over mid on. He reached his 50 off 45 balls with nine 4’s and one 6. He struck an even bigger 6 off the very next ball, this time over mid-wicket as he looked to push the scoring rate on.
Off-spinner Adam James bowled Josh Sanders with a ball that the left-hander played inside; it was just reward for James, who had bowled well up to that point. Yorkshire reached 98/3 at the drinks break with Copping well set on 65*. This gave them a good platform to push on and could look to make a score of 200 plus to set Shropshire a tough total.
Copping was caught at slip by Rab Cooper off the bowling of James for a well-made 71. He was attempting a big shot, but it resulted in a miscue that was safely caught. Copping’s innings contained eleven 4’s and two 6’s, and Yorkshire were 119/4 when he was dismissed. James had to be replaced mid-over after he sustained an injury and was replaced by Cooper, who struck with his first ball when he bowled Daniyal Zaman via a deflection off his pads to reduce Yorkshire to 119/5. James bowled very accurately before he was injured and finished with figures of 2/23 from 7.3 overs.
Yorkshire reached 144/5 after 30 overs with Harry Backhouse well set on 24*. The scoring rate had dropped considerably after the dismissal of Copping, and it was looking like Yorkshire were going to struggle to reach 200. Lewis Daniels was wonderfully caught by Evan Pickford at mid-wicket off the bowling of Oliver Harrison without addition to the score.
Backhouse took eight runs off the 34th over as Yorkshire began to push on, then Harrison took a smart catch at mid-on to dismiss Jacob Grimes off the bowling of Callum Rigby, leaving Yorkshire 169/7 in the 37th over. Yorkshire eventually closed on 190/7 from their 40 overs. The impressive Backhouse finished 49* and was the backbone of the innings once Copping was dismissed. He timed the ball superbly through the covers and looked strong down the ground. He ran between the wickets well too, and was unlucky that he missed out on a well-deserved half-century.
Alongside Bailey and James, Ewan Woodhouse bowled some very tidy left-arm spin; although he went wicketless, he was economical throughout his spell.
Shropshire’s reply began badly when Damon Morris was bowled by the 2nd ball of the innings by William Baxter. Bailey was then bowled, having a hack at Lewis Daniels as Shropshire slumped to 2/2 in the 4th over. Rigby struck two well-timed boundaries before he smashed a Baxter long hop straight to Jasper Spooner at cover, who caught it well, leaving Shropshire 17/3. Adam Marshall then struck four effortless boundaries as Shropshire made it to 37/3 after 10 overs.
Evan Pickford was then adjudged LBW to Baxter as he claimed his 3rd victim, leaving Shropshire 37/4. When Marshall skied an Ollie Wills full toss to Spooner at mid-wicket, things looked bleak for Shropshire as they were 38/5. Marshall will have been disappointed when he got out, as he’d looked untroubled for his 17, and he could have easily gone on to score more.
When Baxter bowled Woodhouse with an excellent yorker that hit the base of off stump, he’d claimed his 4th victim in his final over; he returned figures of 8-3-25-4 as he led the Yorkshire attack in fine style.
Wills claimed his second victim when he bowled James, who misjudged a drive through the off side and saw his stumps get knocked over, leaving Shropshire 58/7. Cooper made a spirited 20, which contained four boundaries, and he drove strongly down the ground throughout his innings. He was then bowled by Wills, who claimed his third wicket of the afternoon. When Wills ran out Oliver Harrison with a direct hit from cover, Shropshire were all out for 73. Wills finished with 3/17 to go with his run out as he had a superb afternoon with the ball.
Yorkshire were the better side, but Shropshire showed good skills when bowling and fielding. Good innings from Marshall and Cooper followed with the bat, but it was not to be their day in the end.
