COUNTIES CRICKET Dorset through to T20 finals
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- Last Updated on Sunday, 03 August 2025 20:20
- Published on Sunday, 03 August 2025 20:20
They will now go forward to Wormsley on Sunday August 24 when the two semi-finals and final will be played.
Dorset, who won the National Counties Trophy last month, made Finals Day for the first time since 2019 by beating hosts Berkshire by 60 runs at Wargrave and Suffolk by five wickets in the final match of the day.
Dorset’s win over Suffolk eliminated Berkshire who had kept alive their hopes alive by beating Suffolk by 45 runs in the second match of the day.
Oxfordshire, who won the T20 competition in 2022, booked their passage by winning a severely rain-affected Group Four at Wadebridge.
The opening match of the day between Cornwall and Wales NC was washed out and the other two matches were reduced to five-over-a-side contests with Oxfordshire beating Wales by 17 runs and Cornwall by 22 runs in the second.
Norfolk, who won the National Counties Trophy at Wormsley last year, secured a return visit to the ground and a first trip to Finals Day since 2018 by beating hosts Staffordshire and Herefordshire at Moddershall to top Group two. All three matches were reduced to ten overs-a-side after morning rain delayed proceedings.
Staffordshire never recovered from losing Nils Priestley and Matt Morris in successive balls from Joe Everett who finished with three for nine in his two overs.
A late spurt from Callum Hawkins got Staffordshire to 66 for six but Norfolk got home with an over to spare with Ben Wilcox making 24.
Staffordshire, winners in 2023 which was the last time the competition produced a winner following washouts last year, were eliminated when they were beaten by six wickets by Herefordshire in the next match.
Staffordshire’s laboured to 60 for nine with seamer Roshan Venkataraman taking three for 11 on his first bowl of the season following his recovery from injury.
But it almost proved enough as Herefordshire struggled in turn until James Rudge was pushed up the order and he clinched victory by striking three fours in Rory Haydon’s final over of the match including the winning runs off the last ball.
Herefordshire’s win set up a shoot-out with Norfolk and they gave themselves a good chance of making Finals Day for the first time when they made 95 for six in their ten overs. But an opening stand of 82 between Freddie Fairey (40) and Sam Arthurton (34) took Norfolk most of the way to victory.
Dorset’s double at Wargrave included three for 19 against Suffolk from Scotland and Sussex seamer Brad Currie on his first appearance for his native county in three years.
Hampshire’s Joe Eckland, another homegrown Dorset product, made 51 in the victory over Berkshire and followed up with 33 against Suffolk.
Worcestershire left-arm wrist spinner Tom Hinley and Sussex batter Harrison Ward also made their marks for Oxfordshire. Hinley took two wickets against Wales on his seasonal debut and then took three for 12 and Tom Davis three for 13 to help restrict Cornwall to 30 for seven in pursuit of a target of 53.
Ward made half of Oxfordshire’s 68 for three against Wales and 30 against Cornwall, sharing an opening partnership of 51 with Dylan Driscoll.
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