Match report by David Wright

Scorecard
v Norfolk CCC 9th May 2010 @ Falkland CC

Berkshire lose to Norfolk in MCCA Knock-out Trophy

TEAM manager David Morris offered no excuses after seeing Berkshire crash by eight wickets to holders Norfolk in their second group game in the MCCA KO Trophy

But he is expecting to see his side bounce back, as they now need to win their two remaining games to be in with a chance of reaching the quarter-finals.

“It was disappointing, we were just not at the races on Sunday,” said Morris.

“Norfolk were the better side allround on the day.
"But we are not out of it yet and I believe we are still capable of winning our next two group games."

Berkshire, having elected to bat first, never recovered from a disastrous start, which saw  Craig Crowe (1), David Barnes (10,) Jono McLean (7) and skipper Bjorn Mordt (2) all dismissed with only 24 runs on the board with three wickets falling to Paul Bradshaw.

With the dampness now out of the wicket, middle-order batsmen Steve Naylor and Neil Turk led a recovery, putting on 79 for the fifth wicket before Turk was caught behind for 33.
James Morris (3) and Craig Crowe (0) quickly followed to leave Berkshire struggling again at 106-7.

Wicketkeeper Stuart Davison, a Henley player making his county debut. was trapped leg before for six with the total on 132 and Steve Wheeler (5)  departed at 149.

Fast running out of partners, Naylor worked extra hard to push the score along and was just five short of his century when he was the last man out with the total on 172 in the last of their 50 overs.

"It was a tremendous innings by Naylor and just a pity he didn't make it to his century," said Morris,
“But the 172 was around 50 short of what we ideally wanted."

Medium-fast Bradshaw was the pick of the Norfolk bowlers with 4-24 off his 10 overs.

The Trophy holders lost Harry Bush, who was lbw to Wheeler for 12 with the total on 16 then Carl Rogers and Trevor Ward, the former Kent and Leicestershire player, put their side on the winning trail with a stand of 144.

Ward was caught and bowled by James Morris for 92 and skipper Rogers remained unbeaten on 56 when Norfolk cruised to their target in the 37th over.

With their first group game, against Cambridgeshire, having been abandoned due to rain, Berkshire must now win their remaining two games to stand any chance of qualifying for the knock-out stage.

They play Lincolnshire at Henley on Sunday (11am).
Henley paceman Kyle Hodnett, who missed the trip to Norfolk due to injury, is set to return while Mordt will take over the wicketkeeper's duties from Davison.

Scores: Berkshire 172 all out (Naylor 95, Turk 33; Bradshaw 4-24)  lost to Norfolk 173-2 (Ward 92, Rogers 56no) by 8wkts,