Cricket: Staffs' hopes hanging by thread

by Allan Smith

STAFFORDSHIRE'S hopes of winning the Minor Counties Knockout Trophy for the first time in 16 years were left hanging by a thread after a rain-affected day at Durham's Riverside ground.

Staffordshire were reduced to 26-4 from 9.3 overs, as they set about chasing down Norfolk's 257-6 from their 50 overs, when bad light saw play abandoned for the day at 7.18pm.

Heavy rain prevented any play until 2.45pm, which has forced the final into a second day, and Staffordshire, who beat Norfolk in the group stage, will need to produce a Herculean batting effort if they are to mirror their 1993 victory over Wiltshire at Lord's.

Staffordshire's innings faltered as early as the second over when Norfolk seamer Michael Eccles picked up two wickets in successive balls.

First he trapped Ben McGuire lbw for two, before having Iain Carr, playing his first match for the county in three years, caught by Trevor Ward at second slip to leave them 4-2.

Worse was to follow as Peter Wilshaw was bowled by Paul Bradshaw for nine to make the score 16-3 and, late in the day, Mo Sheikh was out lbw for seven – again to Eccles, who finished with 3-14.

Richard Harvey and Joe Leach saw Staffordshire through to the close, but their batting performance was in stark contrast to that of Norfolk's.

Left-handed opener Ben Patston raced to his half-century off just 37 balls, hitting seven boundaries and two sixes to get the their innings off to a flying start as they looked to win the trophy for the fifth time in their history.

Staffs skipper Paul Goodwin rang the changes from his array of pace bowlers to try to stem the flow of runs, with Craig Barker the fifth bowler into the attack in the 16th over as the score reached 88-0.

The century opening partnership was reached in the 19th over as Staffs struggled to stem the flow of runs, with Patston continuing to ride his luck in between his explosive hitting, while Norfolk skipper Carl Rogers played the anchor role.

The breakthrough came in bizarre fashion as Sheikh, having bowled 4.4 overs of his normal seam bowling, suddenly switched to off-spin.

With his second delivery, he bowled Patston for 65 to leave the East Anglians on 108-1.

Barker's belated introduction into the attack pegged back the run rate, which had, at one time, gone above the six-an-over mark.

The Audley paceman, who has been struggling with a back injury, showed no ill-effects as he then had former Leicestershire and Kent batsman Trevor Ward caught behind by Goodwin for two.

The same combination then accounted for Norfolk wicketkeeper Stephen Gray for one, to leave them on 125-3. Carr also produced a miserly spell and he picked up the wicket of Chris Borrett for 18, who could only divert a drive straight to Harvey at cover.

The return of Will Purser to the attack brought instant reward as Rogers's solid batting performance was ended as Wilshaw claimed the catch at point.

The Norfolk captain's 91 came from 141 balls and contained nine boundaries as he held the innings together after Patston's blistering start.

James Spelman continued the acceleration towards the end of the innings with an unbeaten 43, while Chris Brown chipped in with 13 to help Norfolk end their innings on a high.

Barker claimed 2-36 from his 10 overs, while Carr ended with 1-44 from his maximum allocation.

Staffordshire faced a testing time before the close of play, but not even they could have foreseen the carnage that was to follow – and they need to utilise their powers of recovery this morning if they are to end their wait for silverware – needing a further 232 runs from 40.2 overs.