Double defeat hits Shropshire's T20 hopes
Shropshire sit rock bottom in Group One of the NCAA T20 Cup after falling to a pair of defeats against Cumbria.
The county were edged out in both matches by their visitors at St George’s on Sunday to make it five defeats from the opening six matches of the tournament.
Opener Freddie Fallows hit 76 from just 34 after Cumbria won the toss and opted to bat in the opening match of the day.
Though miserly bowling Lewis Evans, who went for just 15 runs in his four overs, helped slam the brakes on during the second half of the innings, the visiting team’s total of 158-4 proved enough as Shropshire suffered a stunning batting collapse in reply.
Seb Scott’s 51 formed the backbone of an 86-run opening stand with Sahal Malvernkar inside the opening 10 overs but when they departed, the hosts lost eight wickets for just 34 runs.
Dan Lloyd hit an unbeaten 26 from 23 balls but was unable to prevent his team falling 16 runs short.
Shropshire batted first in the second game of the day and Tom Fell’s 54 helped them reach 163-7.
But Fallows again starred for Cumbria, hitting 61 from 34 balls, before Ben Walkden’s unbeaten 54 saw the visitors over the line in the final over with eight wickets to spare.
