National Village Cup – Round of the Last 32

 

 

Milford Hall (190 for 6) lost to Neyland (194 for 7) by 3 wickets

 

Umpires: Sam Russell and Mark Humphries
Scorers: David Firth & John Laugharne
Venue: Milford Hall Ground
 
Neyland won the toss and invited Milford Hall to bat first on their beautifully-appointed home pitch that stands in the grounds of Milford Hall, a large mansion situated in the village of Milford, some five miles from the town of Stafford.
 
The host club are currently second in the South Staffs Premier League after winning the competition last season – but Neyland made a brilliant start as Nathan Banner had Tom Webb well caught by Ross Hardy for a single and skipper Sean Hannon pouched a catch behind off Henry Durrant to shift Dom Afford for 3 runs to leave Milford Hall in trouble at 8 for 2.
But Aaron Afford (30) and John Davies put on 58 before the former was run out seeking a second run but didn’t know Patrick Bellerby had such a strong throw.
 

Milford Hall battle back from a shaky spell to reach a decent tally

 
Ross Hardy then bowled Sam Bales cheaply to have Milford Hall a little shaky again on 71 for 4  but Davies combined well with skipper Stuart Phazey in a partnership of 80 runs before Davies departed one short of a half century, caught by Bellerby off teenager Jack John having stroked six boundaries.
 
As so often happens, Phazey was caught at the same score of 151 by George Evans off Brad McDermott-Jenkins’ medium pacers having top scored with 55, his powerful hitting earning him 8 boundaries and a maximum.
 
It was left to Tom Eley (20 not out) and Kevin Royce (16 not out) to score late runs that took Milford Hall to 190 for 6 in their allotted 40 overs, and leave the game nicely balanced at the half-way mark.
 

Neyland struggle early on with the bat...

Neyland were hoping for a strong start to their reply but  were also hit early on by Chris Dean as he removed both Patrick Bellerby (1) and Ashley Sutton (0) with respective catches by James Davis and Kevin Royce to leave the visitors tottering on 7 for 2.
 
Nathan Banner came in at No 4 alongside opener Nick Koomen and settled things down with 24 from 38 balls, including two fours and a six before he was neatly stumped by Royce off Rob Firth.
 
Ross Hardy (three fours and a six in his 23) and Henry Durrant (20) also helped Koomen and then Brad McDermott Jenkins put them ahead of the run rate with three big sixes in an over in his quick-fire 24).



 

. . . But Koomen’s superb anchor role paid real dividends

 
And all this time Koomen was playing the perfect anchor role before he was eventually out late on for 64, including eight boundaries, having set his side well on the road to success.
 
Then skipper Hannon (8 not out) and Andrew Miller (10 not out) knocked off the runs as they only needed three runs of the last over and did it with three balls to spare.
 
It completed a magnificent victory for Neyland, who will now fly the Pembrokeshire flag with distinction in the last 16, when they will probably face another long trek like this one, but will give their all, as they did today against such an experienced opposition!
 

SCORECARD:

 
Milford Hall Batting:
Tom Webb ct Ross Hardy b Nathan Banner 1
Dom Afford ct Sean Hannon b Henry Durrant 3
Aaron Afford run out 36
James Davies ct Patrick Bellerby b Jack John 49
Sam Bales b Ross Hardy 2
Stuart Phazey ct George Evans b Brad McDermott-Jenkins 55
Tom Eley not out 20
Kevin Royce not out 16
Extras 8
Total (6 wickets) 190
 
Neyland Bowling:
Henry Durrant 6-1-22-1; Nathan Banner 8-1-26-1; Ross Hardy 8-0-32-1; Andrew Miller 7-0-37-0; Jack John 6-0-42-1; Brad McDermott-Jenkins 5-0-29-1
 
Neyland Batting:
Nick Koomen b Stuart Phazey 64
Patrick Bellerby ct James Davies b Chris Dean 1
Ashley Sutton ct Kevin Royce b Chris Dean 0
Nathan Banner st Kevin Royce b Rob Firth 24
Ross Hardy ct Sam Bales b Stuart Phazey 23
Henry Durrant ct Tom Eley b Aaron Afford 20
Brad McDermott-Jenkins ct Tom Eley b Aaron Afford 24
Sean Hannon not out 8
Andrew Miller not out 10
Extras 20
Total (7 wickets) 194
 
Milford Hall Bowling:
Chris Dean 8-1-22-2; Rob Firth 8-0-29-1; Tom Eley 8-0-34-0; S Phazey 8-0-35-2; Aaron Afford 5.3-0-40-2; Sam Bales 2-0-20-0