Down and out one minute, alive and kicking the next, writes James Garrison from Morda Road.

Shropshire survived a dramatic day of ebb-and-flow cricket to edge out Northumberland and maintain hopes of qualification to the quarter-finals of the MCCA Trophy.

An ultimately comfortable 45-run victory came after a near faultless performance in the field from the young guns Shropshire have placed their trust in.

But the fact that Shropshire had not been blown away long before owed much to Jono Whitney.

Frustration has often followed around the talented Bridgnorth allrounder in the past, promising starts undone by rash shots.

But when his side needed him most at Oswestry yesterday, Whitney responded with the most mature display of his Shropshire career.

Watching on from the other end as a horrendous middle order collapse unfolded , Whitney would have been forgiven for losing his composure as 47-0 in the fifth over became 93-7 in the 21st.

Digging

Yet he knuckled down with vice-captain Matt Tilt to rebuild the innings and secured the first one-day Minor Counties century —102 off 109 balls — shortly before being dismissed in the 48tth over.

Tilt’s role could be not under-estimated, digging in for a priceless 35 before being run out.

The pair ensured Shropshire at least had a target to bowl at as the hosts ended on 230-9, a total which looked nigh on impossible as six middle order batsmen were dismissed for four or less

The collapse was triggered by Ed Foster’s dismissal for 27, the captain unfortunate to see a rising delivery from Guy Saxton strike his gloves and trickle down onto his stumps.

What followed was a worrying demise similar to the one Shropshire suffered a fortnight earlier at Cheshire, Alex Huxley, Joe Leach and Richard Oliver all guilty of giving their wickets away cheaply as the medium pace of David Rutherford caused endless problems.

But Whitney and Tilt ensured Shropshire carried momentum into the Northumberland innings, and three early strikes in an excellent opening spell from Michael Barnard — including Ben Raine who fell to a stunning catch to Anthony Parker at mid-on — piled the pressure on Northumberland.

Former Durham man Gary Scott threatened to take the game away from Shropshire with a rapid 26, before his ominous cameo was ended when he chipped Adam Shimmons to mid-on.

Shropshire continued to chip away at the Northumberland middle order and a direct hit from Shimmons to run out Paul Nicholson for 17 proved a defining moment.

But the final word fittingly fell to Whitney who took 4-33 off nine overs to rip through the Northumerberland tail-end as they tailed away to m185 all out.

It effectively eliminated the visitors hopes of reaching the last eight but leaving Shropshire facing a winner-takes-all trip to Staffordshire next week.