Staffordshire narrowly escape a defeat against Lincolnshire: Minor Counties Championship 2011
Staffordshire escaped a near defeat against Lincolnshire in a match of the Minor Counties Championship 2011, at the London Road, Sleaford in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013, on Tuesday, June 14, 2011.
Chasing 323 runs for victory, Staffordshire lost nine wickets on the final day’s play for 221 runs on the board. The entire first day went without a single delivery being bowled, as rain came pouring down. However, the spectators were given very good entertainment
on the remaining two days of the game.
Lincolnshire opted to bat after winning the toss, as the conditions were perfect for the batsmen. The team did a good job, scoring 293 runs in their first innings, courtesy a solid half-century from middle-order batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Conrad-James-Louth-c51552.
The start to the innings was a good one for Lincolnshire, as opening batsman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Daniel-John-Birch-c52285 played a solid innings. He failed to carry onto the start he got to his innings though and was dismissed after adding 43 runs to the total.
The team’s first-drop, Karanjit Bansal, also batted well and ended up with 44 runs. Most of the batsmen in the Lincolnshire innings were dismissed after getting starts, but Louth didn’t throw his wicket away. He remained unbeaten on 69 with the help of six
fours and a couple of sixes, guiding his side to a respectable total in the first innings.
The Staffordshire bowlers did a decent job, but conceded a lot of runs in the end. Richard Hassall was the pick of the bowlers for his team, ending up with three wickets in the innings.
Staffordshire didn’t find the conditions to be easy once they came out to bat, as their wickets kept on falling at regular intervals and none of the batsmen managed to make an impression.
The team was all-out for 153 in their first outing, which gave a solid lead to the opposition. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Jimmy-Antony-Walter-Dawson-c67010 was the top scorer for his team with 34 runs, but his performance was not enough to rescue the team from trouble.
Alex Osmond did most of the damage, taking four wickets in the innings for Lincolnshire.
The second innings for Lincolnshire was also impressive, as the team reached 182, losing just four batsmen. Birch and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mathew-Peter-Dowman-c75074 scored 59 runs each before the innings was declared and a 323-run target was set for the opposition.
Greg Willot picked up one wicket, but his was not good enough to trouble the opposition.
Staffordshire were in deep trouble, as they lost five wickets for just 45 runs on the board, but captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Paul-Samuel-James-Goodwin-c81200 led from the front and scored 75 runs for his side. Although he got out, the match was saved in the end.
Lincolnshire came very http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Close-c51347 to victory, courtesy Osmond, who took three more wickets in the match.
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