HEREFORDSHIRE miss out on place in the NCCA T20 finals day despite a win over current title holders Staffordshire

4 Aug 2025   |   By Richard Prime

HEREFORDSHIRE missed out on place in the NCCA T20 finals day despite a win over current title holders Staffordshire in the Super-12 phase at Moddershall & Oulton CC.

It’s Norfolk who progress after beating both the home county and Herefordshire on a day which saw all three games reduced to 10 overs per side after rain prevented a start until 2pm.

After Norfolk had beaten Staffordshire by seven wickets in the day’s first match, Herefordshire won the toss and invited the hosts to bat first in the second game.

With Herefordshire’s bowling on top throughout, Staffordshire struggled throughout their 10 overs and only reached 60-9.

Roshan Venkataraman (3-11), Imaad Mahmood (2-8), Taylor Cornall (2-16), Ben Clarke (1-4) and James Rudge (1-11) shared the wickets.

Although skipper Matt Pardoe (18) and Cornall (13) kept the runs flowing, Herefordshire still needed 11 to win at the start of their final over.

But, as on so many previous occasions, Rudge (24 not out) was equal to the challenge as he found the boundary three times.

So this provided a shoot-out in the day’s final match between Herefordshire and Norfolk with the winners to go through.

And, after winning the toss and choosing to bat, Herefordshire gave themselves a great platform for victory, reaching 95-6 from their 10 overs.

Cornall (14) and Sinel Gunarathne (11) got off to a great start with 25 from the first two overs and Ollie Walker (28), Pardoe (21 not out) and Rudge (10) kept up the good work.

But Norfolk were far from finished and had 50 on the board with only three overs bowled.

And although Pardoe (1-4) bowled a tight over towards the end, Norfolk eased home with an over in hand.

On Tuesday, Herefordshire face Worcestershire at Eastnor in the ECB Showcase clash with play in the 50-over match starting at 11am.

CAPTION: Imaad Mahmood collected a couple of wickets against Staffordshire.