NCCA T20 Super 12s 2024 - Review

Come and join us on 26th May at Chester Boughton Hall as we watch NCCA finalists compete for the T20 Championship title.

Berkshire, Staffordshire, Cumbria and Oxfordshire will contest Finals Day of the National Counties T20 competition after they won their respective groups in the new Super 12s stage.

Defending champions Staffordshire made the most of their reprieve after they were reinstated to the competition after Northumberland were docked points for a breach of regulations, by routing Hertfordshire then Norfolk to win Group Two which was played at Manor Park in Horsford.

The other three groups were won by the hosting counties with Berkshire the first to book their place in Finals Day at Chester Boughton Hall on May 26 with comfortable victories over Shropshire and Cornwall at Slough.

Cumbria also made home advantage count with victories over Lincolnshire and Herefordshire in Group One at Furness.

Oxfordshire enjoyed themselves at Great & Little Tew where they beat Cambridgeshire and Dorset to clinch Group Four and become the final qualifier for Finals Day.

The new format produced 12 competitive matches with no dead rubbers although there were no tight finishes.

After the group stage was ravaged by wet weather, the sun shone for the Super 12s and all four group winners won both of their matches which meant that net run rate was not required to decide any of the Finals Day qualifiers.

Shropshire made an early exit from Slough after they were beaten by six wickets by Berkshire in the opener and nine wickets by Cornwall in the second match.

Ollie Currill, who helped Oxfordshire to win the competition two years ago, made an aggressive half century on his debut for Shropshire but the first of two fifties in the day from Johnny Connell saw Berkshire home with more than seven overs to spare.

In their next match Shropshire were shot out for 67 – their lowest total in the competition – with Ellis Whiteford taking two wickets and Ben Ellis and Adam Snowdon two each.

Cornwall cantered home with 61 balls to spare with Will MacVicar making 47 not out from 31 balls after former Kent man Alex Blake had fallen to the second ball of the innings.

Blake bagged a pair in the day as he fell to the second ball of the Berkshire match but solid contributions down the order from Max Tryfonos (35 not out), Alex Bone (34), Paul Smith (31) and Karl Leathley (24) got Cornwall to a competitive 149 for seven.

But Berkshire made light work of the chase with Connell making 61 from 34 balls and Matt Dalrymple 34 to see them home by six wickets with 14 balls to spare which denied Cornwall, beaten finalists last season, a second successive appearance at Finals Day.

Hertfordshire’s interest in the competition also ended early after they were beaten by Norfolk by five wickets and by 98 runs by Staffordshire.

Former Glamorgan batter Callum Taylor made 69 in the opener but Cameron Gravelling and Northamptonshire’s Saif Zaib, guesting as a locum professional for Norfolk, shared six wickets to restrict Hertfordshire to 113.

Sam Arthurton led the successful chase with 40 and, in the process, became the second player after Oxfordshire’s Jonny Cater to reach 1,000 career runs in the competition.

Staffordshire then plundered 181 for five from Hertfordshire’s attack with Nils Priestley (66 from 35 balls) and Zen Malik (49) sharing an opening partnership of 121.

Hertfordshire were shot out for 83 which was both their lowest total in the competition and the lowest by any county against Staffordshire. The margin of victory – 98 runs – was Staffordshire’s largest in T20 cricket.

Norfolk managed to avoid their lowest total in the competition – 75 – but only but only by seven runs in the decider which Staffordshire passed with 56 balls to spare with skipper James Kettleborough finishing unbeaten on 37.

Cumbria began their day with a 22 runs victory over Lincolnshire with Lancashire’s England Under-19 batter Harry Singh again impressing with 64 from 56 balls.

There were handy contributions for Lincolnshire from Tom Keast (29), Jordan Cook (28) and Qundeel Haider (26) but no-one was able to play a match-winning innings.

Herefordshire then beat Lincolnshire by eight wickets in the second match with Keast (36) and his brother Nic (28) the main contributors to Lincolnshire’s 114 for nine.

Herefordshire got home ten balls to spare thanks to Ollie Walker’s 56 from 53 balls and an opening partnership of 65 with Jujhar Johal (27).

But Herefordshire faltered against Cumbria seamers Ed Moulton (three for 17) and Sam Sharp (three for 19) in the group decider and were shot out for 89 with Ben Chapman-Lilley top scoring with 29.

Cumbria had plenty of time to pace their chase and they got there with 22 balls to spare thanks to breezy innings from Sam Dutton (24) and Lancashire’s George Lavelle (20) and Singh’s more cautious 14 not out from 34 balls.

Oxfordshire again benefited from their formal pathway programme with Sussex as players from the first-class county contributed their victories over Cambridgeshire and Dorset at Great & Little Tew.

Sussex staffman Dan Ibrahim – who has played in all of Oxfordshire’s T20 matches – took three for ten and ex-Sussex all-rounder Tom Hinley three for 15 which helped to dismiss Cambridgeshire for 127 in the opener.

Cambridgeshire’s total was built around a sixth wicket partnership of 65 between former Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lancashire all-rounder Wayne White (54) and Will Routledge (39) which rescued them from 51 for five.

Harrison Ward, a homegrown Oxfordshire player who is now on the staff at Hove, led the chase with 41 from 28 balls and Jamie Harrison supplied further acceleration to a five wickets win with 40 from 26 balls.

Cambridgeshire bounced back to beat Dorset by 63 runs in the second match of the day which kept alive their hopes of making it to Finals Day.

White launched the innings with his second half century of the day – 76 from 48 balls – before Dan Andrew pummelled 90 not out from just 49 balls, an innings that included eight sixes, to take Cambridgeshire to 189 for three.

Dorset were dismissed for 126 despite Joe Eckland’s battling 62 with Harrison Craig and Jack Loveday sharing seven wickets between them.

Cambridgeshire then needed Dorset to do them a favour by beating Oxfordshire in the final match of the day to keep them in the hunt for a place at Finals Day.

But Ibrahim’s unbeaten half century and 48 from Zach Lion-Cachet, another home-nurtured player who has joined Sussex, took Oxfordshire to 193 for seven, the day’s highest total.

Sam Young made up for his first ball dismissal against Cambridgeshire with six sixes in his 45 from 23 balls which gave Dorset a decent start to their reply but they could not sustain the required rate of almost ten-an-over.

Alex Eckland (27 not out) and Finn Gordon (29) prolonged the resistance but Dorset’s chase fizzled out at 154 for eight and they were beaten by 39 runs.

National Counties T20 Super 12s

Furness CC

Game 1 – Cumbria 148-6 (Harry Singh 64, Nic Keast 3-10), Lincolnshire 126-8, Cumbria won by 22 runs

Game 2 – Lincolnshire 114-9, Herefordshire 115-2 (Ollie Walker 56). Herefordshire won by eight wickets.

Game 3 – Herefordshire 89 (Ed Moulton 3-17, Sam Sharp 3-19), Cumbria 90-4. Cumbria won by six wickets.

Manor Park

Game 1 –Hertfordshire 113 (Callum Taylor 69, Saif Zaib 3-16, Cameron Gravelling 3-20), Norfolk 115-5 (Sam Arthurton 40). Norfolk won by five wickets.

Game 2 – Staffordshire 181-5 (Nils Priestley 66, Zen Malik 49), Hertfordshire 83 (Tom Brett 3-20). Staffordshire win by 98 runs.

Game 3 – Norfolk 82 (Zen Malik 3-19), Staffordshire 83-4. Staffordshire won by six wickets.

Slough

Game 1 –Shropshire 135-4 (Ollie Currill 53 not out), Berkshire 139-4 (Johnny Connell 52, Lewis Evans 3-26). Berkshire won by six wickets.

Game 2 – Shropshire 67(Ellis Whiteford 3-12), Cornwall 70-1 (Will MacVicar 47 not out). Cornwall won by nine wickets.

Game 3 – Cornwall 149-7, Berkshire 150-4 (Johnny Connell 61). Berkshire won by six wickets.

Great & Little Tew CC

Game 1 – Cambridgeshire 127 (Wayne White 54, Dan Ibrahim 3-10, Tom Hinley 3-15), Oxfordshire 128-5 (Harrison Ward 41, Jamie Harrison 40). Oxfordshire won by five wickets

Game 2 – Cambridgeshire 189-3 (Dan Andrew 90 not out, Wayne White 76), Dorset 126 (Joe Eckland 62, Harrison Craig 3-18, Joe Loveday 3-36). Cambridgeshire won by 63 runs.

Game 3 – Oxfordshire 193-7 (Dan Ibrahim 54 not out, Zach Lion-Cachet 48), Dorset 154-8 (Sam Young 45, Henry Welch 3-38). Oxfordshire won by 39 runs.