Berkshire men’s team were down in Truro last weekend to take on Cornwall in their 2nd 3 day game of the campaign. Unfortunately as like against Devon rain had a big say in the match result.
On the first morning the players arrived to a steady drizzle which meant the start of play was delayed. Once the skies brightened and a stiff breeze had dried the outfield Berkshire lost the toss and Cornwall decided to bat first.
Andy Rishton and the returning Toby Greatwood opened the attack. Rishton was first to strike removing Stoddard in the 3 rd over and then Leathley in the 11th over. Great start by our talisman. He was ably supported by Greatwood and Dunnett. Just after lunch Lincoln introduced Searle into the attack who got the 3rd breakthrough by bowling Macdonald. This brought together Cornwall’s two best batters and they showed how good they were with a huge 180 run partnership. Clarke was eventually out for 95 LBW Rishton. His partner Blake continued to pile on the runs and would bring up his double century in just 175 balls. It was a quite brilliant innings. Cornwall eventually declared on 394 for 8. Andy Rishton was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 96 in 28 overs and was supported by Searle who finished with 3 for 116 in 25 overs.
Berkshire then started their innings with Lamsdale opening the batting in place of stalwart Rhys Lewis who had been struggling with a high temperature all day. Smith and Lamsdale made it through the last 2 overs of the day unscathed.
Day 2 started on time and Berkshire lost Lamsdale early caught behind and then Dunnet was unlucky to be given out in a similar fashion. This brought Lincoln to the crease with Greg Smith and both batters took the attack to the Cornish bowlers. Smith made an excellent 46 and was unfortunate to get a ball that bounced and caught a thick edge and Berkshire were now 86 for 3. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and the captain batted incredibly well until he got one that kept low and was bowled for 71. The score was now 179 for 5. The team needed to avoid the follow on and they did with a brilliant innings from the sick Rhys Lewis who played brilliantly with the tail enders and got Berkshire up to 293. He was last man out for 65 in just 88 balls.
Cornwall had a 101 run lead and on the evening of day 2 most were expecting some fireworks from them to push themselves further in front. However the opposite happened as they dug themselves a hole and spluttered to 59 for 3 in 21 overs. The next morning after the rain had cleared nothing much changed as the Cornish batsmen seemed intent on not losing and eventually the game meandered to a very boring draw.
Andy Rishton was quite incredible again bowling another 23 overs in the 2nd innings and therefore bowling an incredible 51 overs in the match and taking 7 wickets.
So at the end of 3 days Berkshire walked away with 10 points and Cornwall 12. – SCORECARD
Super 12 preview
Berkshire go back into white ball mode this Sunday as the T20 comp is back. We welcome Dorset and Suffolk to Wargrave CC on Sunday.
This will be an incredibly exciting day as all 3 teams vie for 1 spot in Finals day. Berkshire welcome back Connell and Salter to the team and will be excited to get back to playing some attacking cricket. Make sure you get down to support the boys as they look to book their spot in finals day at Wormsley.