PSUK 2024 Round 1

With rain covering most of the UK since around the end of last season, it was nice to see the start of the PSUK competition get underway this week and already we have seen the sort of mountain highs and valley lows that keep us coming back to this wonderful sport year after year. But enough soliloquy, lets get to the round up of Round 1

Group 1

Gloucestershire & Wiltshire Warriors have pulled out so will concede all their matches. Round 1 was vs Northern Ireland Dukes so they get the 3 points and a boost to their NRR

North Wales Dragons (228 all out in 34 overs) bt West Country Wasps (200/4 in 40 overs) by 28 runs

Some strong performances by the Wasps bowlers G. House (4 for 35) and B. Brown (4 for 45) restricted the Dragons to 228, 132 of this coming off the bat of Will Evans but tight, economical bowling from the Dragons in the second half saw the Wasps fall short, even with a solid 77 from O Parsons up top

Group 2

Scotland have pulled out so will concede all their matches. Round 1 was vs North West Alliance so they get the 3 points and a boost to their NRR

Dumbria (235/6 in 40 overs) bt Humberside Hawks (189 all out in 39.2 overs) by 46 runs

Batting first, Dumbria put in a solid performance with notable scores from J. Jessip (47), L. Brown (47) and S. Smith (46). In reply, the Hawks batsmen got a few starts but aside from L. Redmond (42), regular wickets and a notable performance with the ball from N. Collins (3 for 46) meant that, ultimately the Hawks landed short

Group 3

Warwickshire have pulled out so will concede all their matches. Round 1 was vs West Midlands Alliance so they get the 3 points and a boost to their NRR

Leicestershire conceded to UK Nomads

Group 4

Hertfordshire have pulled out so will concede all their matches. Round 1 was vs London Metropolis so they get the 3 points and a boost to their NRR

Thames Valley Royals (122 for 6 in 26.2 overs) bt Hampshire Harriers (119/10 in 37.5 overs) by 4 wickets

The Harriers had a hard time with the bat, unable to shift gears in difficult conditions and good bowling from the Royals, particularly J Kelly who racked up figures of 4 for 14 off his 9 overs. J Metcalfe scored 39 for the Harriers. In reply, the Harriers showed that they have some ticker with J Payne taking the first 5-for of the competition, closing with figures on 5 for 36, however it was not to be after 47 for the Royals’ G Brock nudging them to victory in the 27^th over.

Essex Saxons (214 for 9 in 45 overs) bt Kent Invicta (60 all out in 21.2 overs) by 154 runs

In the heaviest victory of the day, the Saxons put the pressure on Invicta from the get go with contributions from nearly all batsmen but notably Henry Brisland (58) and Dave Roberts (38). In challenging circumstances, S. Williams was the pick of the Invicta bowlers, ending 3 for 62 off his 9 overs. In defence of their first innings total, the Saxons bowlers put Invicta to the sword, with Dave Jackson bagging 4 for 25 and Nick Gliddon 3 for 20