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| > Staffordshire CCC v Devon CCC Match Report |
Staffordshire continued their dominance of the one day game as they crushed cup holders Devon to reach the semi finals of the Minor Counties Trophy.
Having elected to bat first, Devon were restricted to 131 by the Staffordshire powerful bowling line-up, a target which the home county passed for the loss of five wickets despite a mid innings blip which threatened their progress.
Looking comfortable at 81 for two, Staffordshire lost three wickets for the addition of just two runs, to set the supporters hearts fluttering. However, in form Staffordshire captain Paul Goodwin first denied Trevor Anning his hat trick before going on to stroke an unbeaten 32 to see his side through to a home semi final against Bedfordshire at Knypersley on Sunday June 28th.
Accompanying Goodwin in ensuring Staffordshire did not waste the earlier good work of the bowlers was former Leek player Dave Wheeldon, whose resolute 66 ball innings produced an unbeaten 30 to show the 20 year olds growing maturity.
Although playing down his own role which saw him hit the winning runs, Goodwin did concede, “It was nice to be there at the end.” His bowling attack again received the plaudits with Goodwin continuing, “The bowlers set the tone for the day. They put their batsmen under pressure and got wickets at key times. On a different day, with a little more luck, they could have bowled them out for under 100. That is no indictment of the Devon batting which is their strong point.”
Looking at the overall performance Goodwin added, “We played fantastically well again and carried on from where we left off in the group games. Everybody is doing their job and we are playing good solid cricket.”
Dave Wheeldon came in for special praise with Goodwin observing, “It was a fantastic innings which held us together when we suffered our blip. He is growing in stature and was our anchor.”
Summing up the day Goodwin concluded, “I am delighted for everybody to get through and we can look forward to another home match in the semi finals in front of our own supporters.”
Will Purser’s opening seven over spell resulted in him conceding just 13 runs while claiming the wickets of both openers, Chris Mole and former Gloucestershire player Bobby Dawson.
Left hander Robert Holman held the Devon innings together as Mo Sheikh removed the dangerous Australian born Neil Hancock and Dave Court, before dismissing Holman for 54, the fifth wicket falling on 84.
With the ball continuing to swing, the returning Greg Willott picked up two wickets to keep the pressure on the visitors.
Left arm spinner Gareth Morris proceeded to mop up the tail, with the last of his three wickets being Adjita Rai, who recently played as substitute professional for Division Two side Stone SP.
Chasing a victory target of 142, openers Peter Wilshaw and Jack Manuel began positively. Wilshaw fell to a catch at the wicket off new bowler Neil Hancock at the start of the ninth over, having made 21 out of the score of 42.
Just two runs later Manuel fell to a catch on the mid wicket boundary, trying to repeat his earlier six, the Tamworth player also scoring 21. Dave Wheeldon and Richard Harvey steadily pushed the score along to 81, before former skipper Harvey departed for 18.
When Ben McGuire and Mo Sheikh both went lbw to Trevor Anning in successive balls, Staffordshire needed to regroup, but the Wheeldon-Goodwin partnership confidently saw Staffordshire safely home with 16.3 overs to spare, to the rapturous applause of the healthy crowd who enjoyed a low scoring but tense match.
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