Cumbria County Cricket Club travelled to Cambridgeshire to play the hosts and Northumberland in the Super 12 mini-league stage of the National Counties Cricket Association T20 competition, writes Roxine Beaumont-Sempill.
Sadly, despite bullish batting from Freddie Fallows, they failed to progress to Finals Day.
Sawston & Babraham CC is the home club for 10 of the players who have represented Cambridgeshire across all formats this season.
With such a true home advantage, they must have started as favourites. Moreover, eight of their players scored 100+ runs in the 8 Group matches played.
Cambridgeshire and Northumberland played the first match. The hosts won the toss and elected to bat.
Their score of 153/8 was adjudged by one of their supporters as 20, or even 30, light. Despite the ‘worm’ and run rate charts always showing their lagging behind, Northumberland won with 4 balls to spare, largely thanks to a 44-run partnership from the last 19 balls between Chris Youldon and Matthew Oswell.
Minutes later, precisely as forecast, rain started at 12.45. The toss for the second match was held at the cemetery end of the field, as covers and sheets were being brought on to the middle.
Cumbria’s captain Matthew Sempill (Cockermouth) won the toss and elected to field.
Fortunately, the drizzle stopped quite quickly, so the match started on time. For the rest of the day matches were played in occasional brief periods of grey clouds and drizzle. But mostly under high white clouds, which made tracking high balls quite a challenge.
Paceman Louis Backhouse (Kendal) was straight on the money, trapping Ben Claydon lbw with his 4th ball. Nikhil Gorantla, available for the first time since he signed a two-year contract with Surrey two weeks previously, took 5 runs off Liam Grey (Northern) in the 2nd over, but chopped on to Backhouse’s 2nd ball 3rd over.
Aum Patel and Wayne White took 14 off the third over but were again limited to 3 off the 5th over by Backhouse to leave them on 28/2 from 5 overs.
Into the fray came Sam Sharp (Kendal). Patel launched Sharp’s second delivery towards the shorter sports centre boundary but was caught at midwicket by Nico Watt (Carlisle), just inside the rope.
Two balls later William Routledge was also back in the hutch, caught behind by Drew Postlethwaite (Barrow). 32/4 off 6 overs.
Captain Callum Guest (92 competitive games for the county) and their regular pro Wayne White (86 first class games plus 96 competitive Minor/National County games) struggled to kick on against Fallows, Sharp and Watt, so the score had advanced to only 69/4 from 13.1 overs.
A possibly frustrated White (15 from 30) advanced down the wicket, attempting to launch a delivery from Watt, and was stumped.
Guest (39 from 34) was lbw to Grey three overs later. With 3 balls to go, ex Leicestershire player James Sykes (4 from 8) was bowled by Josh Stirling (Newcastle). The hosts finished on 113/7. Sharp posted the best figures of 2 overs, 2 for 7, economy 3.50.
Cumbria front-loaded their big hitters. Fallows scored a single off the first ball, Paul Hindmarch (Keswick) was caught at mid-off by Gorantla off James Cox from the second, and Sempill out lbw to the third.
Not the most auspicious start! Unbowed, Fallows finished the second over with two consecutive identical 6s over the shorter square leg boundary.
When Grey was caught behind off Cox last ball 3rd over, Ben Walkden (Newton-le-Willows) joined Fallows.
The pair put on a partnership of 85 off 71 before Fallows was caught by Claydon off George Darlow 6th ball 15th over.
Fallows had scored 70 off 49 balls, 4 X 4s, 6 X 6s, strike rate 142.86, including a switch-hit 4 to the short boundary and an incredible 6 over the longer boundary at mid-wicket on to the Cambridge Road.
Evan Williams (Horwich RMI) and Walkden calmly completed the run chase from 8 further balls to secure Cumbria a win by 8 wickets.
Sempill also won the toss for the second match and elected to bat to keep Fallows firing.
Bowler Matthew Oswell could only watch as Freddie scored 28 off the first over: 4 X 4s and 2 X 6s over midwicket onto the road. Hindmarch pitched in with 10 from 8 before being bowled by Callum Fletcher in the 4th over.
Fallows racked up an incredible 74 runs off 22 balls, 11 X 4s, 5 X 6s, strike rate 336.36 before he skied one off Fletcher which was pouched by Matthew Oswell at square leg. Cumbria were 85/2 off 5.5 overs. The third umpire had worn a path across the pitch with his box of new balls.
Cumbria finished their innings on what seemed like a competitive 170/8. Sempill (playing in his 100th match for Cumbria) was the second highest scorer on 32 off 28, 1 X 4.
Just as England, finishing their 5th Test Match against India at the Oval that day, had been weakened by the injury to Woakes, so Cumbria were probably disadvantaged by losing Backhouse, who missed the second match with a side niggle.
Alasdair Appleby and Ross Whitfield (32 from 23) amassed 74 from 7.1 overs before the latter was caught by Evans at deep cover off Watt. Then 6 balls later Haydon Mustard was caught at point by Sam Sharp off Fallows.
Sadly for Cumbria, those were the only wickets to fall. Appleby (65 off 41, 6 X 4s, 3 X 6s, strike rate 158.54) and John Oswell (67 off 34, 6 X 4s, 4 X 6s, strike rate 197.06) secured the winning runs in 16.5 overs.
Cumbria’s last two matches in the NCCA Cluberly Championship are at home:
- Sunday August 17 to Tuesday August 19 v Northumberland at Furness CC
- Sunday August 31 to Tuesday September 2 v Norfolk at Netherfield CC
