T20 2025: Week 5 - Review

Staffordshire, Cambridgeshire, Berkshire and Cornwall will host matches in the Super 12s stage of this season’s National Counties T20 after they topped their respective groups following a rain-affected final round of qualifying matches.

Staffordshire jumped from third to first in Group One, leapfrogging Cumbria and Northumberland, who also progressed to the next stage of the competition which will be played on August 3.

Cambridgeshire pipped Norfolk and Suffolk in a tight Group Two which they won by virtue of their superior net run rate after they finished level on ten points with their East Anglia rivals.

Berkshire secured Group Three with a double over Bedfordshire at Wargrave to finish ahead of Wales NC and Oxfordshire. Oxfordshire progressed despite sitting out the last round of group matches.

Cornwall made it seven wins from eight matches in Group Four with a double over Herefordshire at St Austell. Dorset also progressed as runners-up and they did Herefordshire a favour by beating Wiltshire in the second match at Westbury which meant Herefordshire went through as the third-placed county in the group on net run rate.

Staffordshire secured their place in the Super 12s without bowling a ball after the first match of their double header against Cumbria at Wolverhampton was abandoned without a ball being bowled following heavy rain during the morning. The point Staffordshire took from the abandonment ended Cheshire’s hopes of further progress.

Staffordshire then swept to the top of the group on the back of a competition record fourth wicket partnership between Reeve Evitts and skipper James Kettleborough. The pair added 129 in an unbroken stand which was also Staffordshire’s highest for any wicket in the competition, surpassing the 124 that Nils Priestley and Zen Malik shared for the first wicket in the 2023 semi-final victory over Berkshire.

Former Worcestershire all-rounder Evitts finished unbeaten on a competition-best 76 and Kettleborough on 61 which took Staffordshire to 181 for three. Spinners Priestley, Matthew Morris and Tom Brett then took three wickets apiece to restrict Cumbria to 124 for eight.

Cheshire ended their campaign with a double over Northumberland at Oxton which cost their visitors top spot and home advantage in the Super 12s.

Chris Youldon’s competition-best half century was not enough to save Northumberland from a seven wickets defeat in the opener as Kevin Carroll thumped 54 from just 18 balls to see Cheshire home with 22 balls to spare.

Northumberland were restricted to 113 for nine in the second match with Harry Dearden taking three wickets for Cheshire. A half-century from former Lancashire wicketkeeper George Lavelle steered Cheshire to a four wickets win with 23 balls in hand.

Rain ended Hertfordshire’s Super 12s hopes by washing out the first match against Suffolk at the West Herts club in Watford just after the halfway stage and then wiping out the second match.

Adam Jones (62 not out) and Kieran Pell, with his competition-best 52) shared a third wicket partnership of 114, the highest for any Suffolk wicket, before the rain arrived. Hertfordshire had faced just one over of their attempt to chase a target of 155 when the weather closed in.

Rain also interrupted play at Sprowston where Cambridgeshire did a double over Norfolk.

Norfolk were struggling at 63 for six when rain halted their innings midway through the ninth over of the opener. The weather relented to allow Cambridgeshire to chase a revised target of 52 in eight overs, which they reached with seven balls to spare thanks to 36 not out from Ben Claydon.

Rain restricted the second match to a 16-overs-a-side contest which Cambridgeshire won by 72 runs with an excellent all-round team performance.

Will Routledge (44), Nikhil Gorantla (38) and Yousuf Choudhary (38) led Cambridgeshire to 164 for six, a target Norfolk never got to grips with.

They laboured to 93 for eight after an opening partnership of 34 between Sam Arthurton and Freddie Fairey with Ben Clilverd taking three for 11, the pick of Cambridgeshire’s miserly attack.

Berkshire’s double over Bedfordshire meant that they ended their group campaign with four straight wins having been deducted four points for fielding an unregistered player in completing a double over Wales NC..

Amrit Basra’s 47 helped Bedfordshire to 126 for nine in the opener but Berkshire got home with more than three overs to spare thanks to 36 from Johnny Connell and an unbroken fourth wicket partnership of 56 between captain Dan Lincoln (35 not out) and Charlie Dunnett (26 not out).

Dunnett followed up with 42 not out and Lincoln 33 in the second match as they chased down a revised target of 122 in 16 overs after rain interrupted their innings after five overs.

Berkshire’s original target was 144 after Jake Tarling, leading Bedfordshire in the absence of George Thurstance, made a competition-best 74 from 61 balls. Berkshire seamer Andy Rishton took a career-best four for 21.

Buckinghamshire missed out on the Super 12s despite starting the day with a three runs victory over Wales NC at Ebbw Vale. Buckinghamshire were then shot out for 78 in the second match as Wales won by 102 runs, their record victory by runs margin.

Buckinghamshire’s collapse proved costly as it damaged their net run rate and meant they finished in fourth place in the group with Oxfordshire, who had started the day top but having completed their group programme, taking third place.

Glamorgan’s Henry Hurle enjoyed himself as Wales captain with a half century in each match with slow left-armer Romano Franco taking a T20 best four for 17 in the opener.

Despite Hurle’s 56, Wales came up just short of a target of 174 in that match but they expertly defended a total of 180 in the second.

Hurle played a supporting innings to Harry Friend, with a career-best 84, before Wales’ attack successfully stifled Buckinghamshire’s reply. Skipper Alexei Kervezee made 30 but Aum Raykar (24) was the only other batter to detain Wales for long.

Wiltshire were also left to rue a batting collapse in the second match at Westbury where they were shot out for 63 by Dorset which allowed Herefordshire to retain third position in the group. Wiltshire’s total was their second-lowest in the competition behind their 53 against Devon in 2019.

Hampshire Academy batter Sam Ashman (27) accounted for a sizeable portion of Wiltshire’s runs with leg-spinner Ethan Baker taking his second three wicket haul of the day.

Hampshire batter Felix Organ top-scored with 56 in Dorset’s 131 for seven having made a second ball duck in the opening match of the day.

Dorset were dismissed for 107 in that match, with Alfie Johnson and Rhys Baker sharing six wickets, and Wiltshire were galloping towards victory at 69-0 in the eighth over with Tom Cheater unbeaten on 45 when the rain arrived.. The required DLS target at that stage was 34.

Cornwall, who were beaten finalists the last time the competition was played to a conclusion in 2023, banked their third double at St Austell where Will MacVicar was an influential figure with both bat and ball.

MacVicar top-scored with 38 in the opener which helped Cornwall to 138 for nine, five of the wickets being taken by off-spinner Hasan Mahmood in a competition-best performance.

MacVicar then took three for 25 to restrict Herefordshire to 123 for seven with acting-captain Ollie Walker making 33.

Walker was in the runs again in the second match- a career-best 77 which contained six sixes – and Herefordshire’s total of 175 for six stretched Cornwall.

The loss of four wickets for nine runs in mid-innings threatened to derail the chase but MacVicar got Cornwall over the line with two wickets and three balls to spare by making a T20 best 81 not out from 49 balls.

National Counties T20

Group One

Oxton. Match One: Northumberland 129-7 (Chris Youldon 50 not out, Max Law 3-18), Cheshire 133-3 (Kevin Carroll 54, Sam Perry 38 not out). Cheshire won by seven wickets.

Match Two: Northumberland 113-9 (John Oswell 33, Harry Dearden 3-27), Cheshire 117-6 (George Lavelle 58, Joe Stuart 4-33). Cheshire won by four wickets

Wolverhampton. Match One: Abandoned.

Match Two: Staffordshire 181-3 (Reeve Evitts 76 not out, James Kettleborough 61 not out), Cumbria 134-8 (Ben Davidson 37 not out). Staffordshire won by 47 runs.

Group Two

West Herts CC, Watford. Match one: Suffolk 154-6 (Adam Jones 62 not out, Kieran Pell 52, Jack Plom 3-25), Hertfordshire 6-0. No result.

Match Two: Abandoned.

Sprowston. Match One:  Norfolk 63-6, Cambridgeshire 52-2 (Ben Claydon 36 not out). Cambridgeshire won by eight wickets (DLS).

Match Two: Cambridgeshire 164-6 (Will Routledge 44, Nikhil Gorantla 38, Yousuf Choudhary 33), Norfolk 93-8 (Ben Clilverd 3-11). Cambridgeshire won by 72 runs (DLS).

Group Three

Wargrave. Match One: Bedfordshire 126-9 (Amrit Basra 47), Berkshire 127-3 (Johnny Connell 36, Dan Lincoln 35 not out). Berkshire won by seven wickets.

Match Two: Bedfordshire 143-5 (Jake Tarling 74 not out, Patrick Harrington 37, Andy Rishton 4-21), Berkshire 122-4 (Charlie Dunnett 42 not out, Dan Lincoln 33). Berkshire won by six wickets (DLS).

Ebbw Vale. Match One: Buckinghamshire 173-9 (Aum Raykar 47, Romano Franco 4-17), Wales NC 170-7 (Henry Hurle 56, Ed Bragg 3-34). Buckinghamshire won by three runs.

Match Two: Wales NC 180-9 (Harry Friend 84, Henry Hurle 55), Buckinghamshire 78 (Alexei Kervezee 30, Rhodri Lewis 3-17). Wales NC won by 102 runs.

Group Four

St Austell. Match One: Cornwall 138-9 (Will MacVicar 38, Alex Bone 35, Hasan Mahmood 5-21), Herefordshire 123-7 (Ollie Walker 33, Will MacVicar 3-25). Cornwall won by 15 runs.

Match Two: Herefordshire 175-6 (Ollie Walker 77), Cornwall 178-8 (Will MacVicar 81 not out) . Cornwall won by two wickets.

Westbury. Match One: Dorset 107 (Dylan Church 31, Alfie Johnson 3-13, Rhys Baker 3-27), Wiltshire 69-0 (Tom Cheater 45 not out). Wiltshire won by 35 runs (DLS).

Match Two: Dorset 131-7 (Felix Organ 56), Wiltshire 63 (Ethan Baker 3-17). Dorset won by 68 runs.

📸 Roger Byrne