B team cause cup shock by defeating Grasshoppers A
Grasshoppers A were on the end of a huge upset in the first round of the Tim Ellis Knockout Cup at the Wheatland Indoor Cricket League.
The league champions were knocked out at the first hurdle by their B side – losing by six runs.
Batting first, the B side were dismissed for 84 with Matt Hartshorn hitting 21 and Keith Sambrook 19.
In the reply, the A team were bowled out 78 despite having an over to spare with Andy Harrison top scoring with 23. Adam Williams claimed 2-20.
There were no such problems for Division Two champions Cound, who cruised to victory over Beacon B by 83 runs.
Batting first, they finished on 139-3 with Tom Boyd (28), Tom Quraishi (27) and Henry Cooper (26) all unbeaten while Pabel Kumar Saha hit 22.
In reply, Beacon were restricted to 56-5 with Marcus Clayton unbeaten on 28 while Cooper claimed 2-19.
The other first-round game saw Beacon A also knocked out at the hands of Willey.
Batting first, Beacon finished on 95-3 with Jonathan Evans unbeaten on 29 and Mike Turner 26.
Willey reached their victory target with a ball to spare with Scott Furber unbeaten on 25.
The quarter-finals get under way this week. Meanwhile, Grasshoppers and Cound were both victorious in their final league games to confirm themselves as unbeaten winners of Division One and Two respectively.
The final issue to be decided was Frankton finishing at the foot of Division One after losing to Grasshoppers B.
Willey ended the season on a positive note as they beat runners-up Beacon to avoid finishing bottom.
