Seventh-wicket stand proves crucial

August 11, 2026

A seventh-wicket stand of 83 shattered Suffolk Men’s 1st XIs dreams of a first appearance at the NCCA Dojo T20 Finals Day.

Defending a total of 152 for 8, Suffolk reduced Cornwall to 73 for 6 off 11.1 overs in Sunday’s eliminator at Wargrave CC and looked favourites to progress and face Berkshire for a place at Finals Day.

Elliot Hooper and Billy Taylor then came together and started to turn the tie on its head, before sealing a four-wicket win with a ball to spare in the first-ever meeting between the two sides.

Hooper scored a superbly measured 65 off 50 deliveries and received stellar support from wicket-keeper Taylor, whose 33 occupied 25 balls.

Their individual and collective contribution was in stark contrast to Suffolk’s innings in which the top five all made a start, before being dismissed for between 17 and 27, while the highest two partnerships both ended at 34.

After winning the toss and reaching 93 for 2 inside 13 overs, Suffolk failed to really kick-on after the departure of captain Jacob Marston, who top-scored with 27 along with Alex Oxley.

Marston (pictured above) was brilliantly caught one-handed by Billy Moon on the mid-wicket boundary, and the loss of Darren Ironside (20) and Josh Cantrell (17) in the space of four balls proved pivotal.

However, when ex-Kent bowler Arafat Bhuiyan, deputising for injured professional Feroze Khushi, removed skipper Paul Smith second ball, Cornwall were 41 for 4.

Moon and Tom Orpe followed, well held by Freddie Cloud who also made a direct-hit run out to remove Alfie MacDonald in the first over, leaving Cornwall up against it until Hooper and Taylor intervened.

Suffolk skipper Marston said afterwards: “From our start, I think we should probably have got 20 more.

“The pitch was quite sticky, so it was quite hard to time (the ball) as incoming batters, but it became easier as you faced three, four, five, six balls.

“It was hard on the incoming batters to go from ball one and therefore we couldn’t quite accelerate and get to the total we wanted.”

Cornwall were subsequently beaten by Berkshire, after being bowled out for 122 chasing 174 for 7, as the home team went through to Finals Day at Wormsley on August 30th.

Suffolk return to red-ball action when they face Cambridgeshire at Copdock & Old Ipswichian CC in the NCCA Cluberly Championship, starting on Sunday (11am).

Scorecard

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