James Kettleborough heaped praise on his Staffordshire players for rising to the challenge and reviving the county’s 50-over fortunes.
Staffs defeated Lincolnshire by 10 runs in a rain-affected, winner-takes-all encounter at Bignall End on Sunday to clinch the second qualification spot in NCCA NV Play Trophy Group Two.
The victory brought an end to Staffordshire’s poor run of Trophy results, which had seen them fail to progress to the knockout phase in each of the past three seasons.
But they now have an away quarter-final against Cumbria to look forward to on Sunday, June 7 – after following an opening-day defeat by Norfolk with a hat-trick of wins against Bedfordshire, Northumberland and now Lincs.
‘Team clarity’
“We turned up with a clear goal of what we wanted to achieve – and to come away having done that is immensely satisfying,” said captain Kettleborough.
“I’m proud of the lads and the entire group. After losing to Norfolk, we had to win three games to qualify, and three weeks later we’ve managed that.
“I guess it is a monkey off our backs. It was a box that was still unticked for us. But our main aim was to get better at 50-over cricket – whatever that looked like.
Dramatic day sees Staffordshire book their place in NCCA NV Play Trophy quarter-finals
“It’s a trip to Cumbria for us, who are unbeaten, but that’s no issue. It’s about doing the job in front of us.
“We’ve not reached this stage for a while, but we can go into the quarters full of confidence after winning three games on the bounce.”
The win against Lincolnshire had high stakes with the victors joining Norfolk in moving through to the last eight.
‘Stop-start’
Staffs lost the toss and were invited to bat before reaching 65-0 off 14 overs before a three-hour rain delay.
The match was then reduced to 35 overs per side – and Staffordshire were 186-5 off 29.5 when Lincolnshire raised concerns about the safety of the outfield.
Another half-hour delay ensued, with Staffs’ innings ending and Lincolnshire being set a revised target of 229 in 29 overs.
Staffs held their nerve, though, and restricted their rivals to 215-8 when play was concluded.
“There was a lot thrown at us – and a lot went against us,” added Kettleborough. “With the weather, we wanted to bowl first, but we could only deal with things in our control.
“We just had to keep focused on the task in hand. Losing two wickets after the first rain delay wasn’t ideal, but Kels (Sam Kelsall) got himself back in, Lincs (Dan Lincoln) played brilliantly, and Walks (Ollie Walker) was setting himself up.
“We don’t know what would have happened in the final six overs of our innings but we knew the DLS would bump up our score.
“Then it was about applying scoreboard pressure and we managed to defend that total.”
‘Patient approach’
Staffordshire didn’t make the best of starts with the ball but managed to regain their composure to eventually close out the win.
Kettleborough admits it was always going to be tough for Lincs to stay at the required rate.
“It’s a big ask for a team to go at that rate, especially against our bowling attack,” he explained.
“The shorter the run chase, the better it is for the batting side, but to have to score at a consistent level for that amount of overs is tough.
Staffordshire’s away win sets up huge final day in the Trophy
“We didn’t nail our skills with the ball straightaway but we stuck at it. The lads regrouped and managed to put lots of pressure on Lincolnshire.
“There’s still areas we want to improve but we have that opportunity now we’ve qualified for the quarter-finals.”
Staffordshire now turn their attention to the Twenty20 Cup format this weekend when they host Northumberland in a double header at Stone SP on Sunday.
“We’re in a good place after the last three weeks,” said Kettleborough. “Traditionally, we’ve gone well in the T20s but we can’t take anything for granted.”
Main image: Staffordshire captain James Kettleborough led his side into the NCCA NV Play Trophy quarter-finals. Picture: Pete Stonier