COUNTIES CRICKET Trophy holders Dorset knocked out

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Created on Sunday, 10 May 2026 19:08

Last Updated on Monday, 11 May 2026 09:45

Published on Sunday, 10 May 2026 19:08

Written by PAUL BOLTON Cricket Correspondent

Dorset’s hopes of retaining the National Counties Trophy ended in a 76 runs defeat by Buckinghamshire.

Dorset needed to beat Buckinghamshire in their final Group Four match at Tring Park to have any hope of making the knockout stages and they were in with a shout when Dylan Church (78) and Joe Eckland (41) added 95 for the second wicket in pursuit of a target of 265.

But scoreboard pressure eventually told and from 150 for four, Dorset slipped to 188 all out and out of the competition.

Half-centuries from Archie Dodds (50) and Matt Pardoe (58) laid solid foundations for Buckinghamshire with useful cameos down the order from Josh Lincoln (39), George Harvey (29) and Bertie Foreman (21) helping them to 264 for eight despite another four wicket haul from slow left-armer Mo Abbas.

Former Sussex off-spinner Foreman then took three for 28 with Pardoe and his fellow slow-left-armer Pardoe sharing two more wickets to secure a third straight win which leaves Buckinghamshire well placed to progress.

Oxfordshire banked a second win in a low-scoring contest against Cornwall at St Just which started late due to rain but finished quickly.

Cornwall were shot out for 103 after they opted to bat first in a 42 overs-a-side contest with off-spinner George Tait taking four for 20.

Sussex left-hander Harrison Ward then pummelled 45 from 27 balls and dominated an opening partnership of 60 with Freddie Smith which gave Oxfordshire a flying start to their chase.

After Ward departed, Smith remained to secure victory inside 18 overs and finished unbeaten on 40.

Jake Goodwin set up Wiltshire’s 117 runs victory over Hertfordshire at Welwyn Garden City with the county’s highest score in the competition.

Goodwin’s 137 not out from 135 balls, which included 13 fours and four sixes, surpassed Wes Durston’s 133 against Berkshire at Henley in 2009.

He shared successive century partnerships with Jack Mynott (49) and skipper Ed Young (50) for the second and third wickets which took Wiltshire to a dominant 314 for four.

Ben Clifford (60) led Hertfordshire’s resistance but they were dismissed inside 38 overs for 197 and went quietly to a third straight defeat.

Rhys Lewis’s 127 helped Berkshire to a 126 runs over Herefordshire at Wargrave and set up a potential Group Three decider with Buckinghamshire at Tring next Sunday.

Lewis’s second Trophy century contained 11 fours and three sixes which, with a fifth wicket partnership of Ben Salter (83) took Berkshire to 315.

Herefordshire never got to grips with a tough chase and their innings consisted of a series of cameos led by George Rhodes’s 36.

Captain Andy Rishton led from the front for Berkshire with three for 35 with Charlie Dunnett (three for 13) mopping up the resistance to condemn Herefordshire to a third defeat in four matches.

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