National Championship Round 2 Round Up

Another excellent day of cricket on 18th May saw more great performances and most games played:

Group 1

North Wales (209/7) beat Devon and Cornwall (205/4)

Strong batting from I. Jarman (67) and W. Heather (50 not out) set North Wales a challenging total but not even C. Challinor's bowling of 4.3 overs, 4 for 25 could stop the Welsh team getting over the line, helped in no small part by 104 from Will Evans.

South Wales & Gwent vs Gloucestershire and Wiltshire was called off due to rain

Group 2

North West Alliance (262/2) beat Humberside (259/3) by 8 wickets

In a reduced overs run-fest, it was not a day to be a bowler. Humberside bat first and A. Barlow's 91, Z. Meadows' 68 and N. Saltmer's 55 not out got them to what they must have thought was a solid total. In reply, A. Phillips got 87, P. McDonough 57 and G. Knight 88 not out to take the win back to the North West

PSNI (232/6) beat West Yorkshire (131/3) by 101 runs

In the other game in the group, PSNI put in another good batting performance, with S, Campbell scoring 68, M. Chambers 60 and M. Stewart 40 not out. West Yorksihre's R. Senior was the pick of the bowlers ending on figures of 7 overs, 4 for 42. In reply, PSNI's bowlers kept the runs low, even if they didn't take many wickets with E. Austin's 66 being the only innings of note.

Group 3

Staffordshire (143/6) beat East Midlands Alliance (141 all out)

In a contrasting performance to the start made in the last game, EMA struggled against the Staffordshire bowlers with G. Crossley scoring 48 of their total. The pick of the Staffs bowlers being Haynes with figures of 8 overs, 2 maidens, 3 for 33. In reply, despite G. Crossley having an all-rounders day with figures of 9 overs, 4 maidens, 3 for 11, the other bowlers couldn't contain Staffs and Atkinson's 42 not out led them to victory.

Police Scotland conceded to West Midlands Alliance

Group 4

Kent (70/1) beat Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire (66 all out) by 9 wickets

In the lowest scoring game of the competition so far, H&C just didn't have the batting to hold off Kent's bowling attack with only J. Headon scoring 42 of the 66 showing any resistance. Kent's P. Hambleton bowled 6 overs, 1 maiden, 3 for 12 and H. Ghous bowling 5 overs, 1 maiden, 3 for 5 before getting 39 with the bat to see Kent comfortably win

Met & City of London (324/7) beat Hampshire (145 all out)

Runs galore in the other game in the group with the London side batting first. Significant scores for N. Jayasinghe (41), B. Francis (94) and C. Douglas (76 not out) raised a daunting total. Attacking bowling from J. Taylor (9 overs, 4 for 63) and N. Jackson (4.4 overs, 3 for 22) ensured that Hampshire were never going to get close