Suffolk follow up Norfolk victory with win over Staffordshire in NCCA Trophy

Head coach Adam Mansfield said he was ‘super proud’ of his players after Suffolk defeated Staffordshire by 67 runs in the NCCA Trophy.

Suffolk successfully defended their total of 312-6 from their 50 overs after dismissing Staffordshire for 245 at Bignall End CC in their Group 2 game on Bank Holiday Monday.

Opener Ollie Burle laid the foundations with 82 off 126 balls laced with six fours and one six, sharing in an opening partnership of 43 in just 8.1 overs with Jack Beaumont, whose 31 occupied 28 deliveries.

Darren Ironside (39 off 47) added 74 with Burle for the second wicket, before George Rhodes scored 25 in a stand of 44 in exactly 10 overs.

After Burle fell off the first ball of the 41st over and Kieran Pell departed soon after, Alex Oxley (35 off 23 with one four and three maximums) maintained the momentum.

After Oxley became the sixth wicket to fall – all to catches – captain Josh Cantrell (54 off 27 including four fours and four sixes) and Jacob Marston (14 off 12) put on 71 in the final five-and-a-half overs.

That left the hosts requiring to score at a rate of 6.26 and they had advanced to 126-2 in the 24th over when Rhodes took a splendid catch off his own bowling to remove James Kettleborough.

Opener Matthew Morris, whose 55 came from 66 deliveries, was out three overs later, but Michael Hill and Nils Priestley carried the fight to Suffolk in a 69-run alliance before Cantrell accounted for both in successive deliveries.

The loss of Priestley (50 off 36, with six fours and three sixes) at 202 was the first of five wickets to fall in the space of 15 runs, before Cantrell’s direct hit wrapped up the innings.

Cantrell returned figures of 8-0-53-3, while Dan Shanks picked up two wickets in five balls on his way to 10-1-39-2.

Coach Mansfield reflected: “It was a great win. The boys played superbly well. We won the toss again and had no hesitation to bat first.

“Ollie Burle led from the front and looked in control against one of the best attacks in National Counties cricket.

“With the ball, the boys were brave and kept believing. A fantastic catch from George Rhodes got rid of Kettleborough and changed the game.”

Suffolk, who host Herefordshire at Sudbury CC on Sunday, lead Group 2 from Shropshire on net run-rate.