Shropshire enjoy T20 victory over Staffordshire in second game at Wem as Sahal Malvernkar plays starring role
Sahal Malvernkar led the way with an unbeaten 91 as Shropshire hit back in style from defeat in Sunday's NCCA T20 opener against Staffordshire to beat their neighbours by eight wickets in game two.
Opener Malvernkar struck four sixes and 10 boundaries, facing 52 balls, as he helped the county - whose side included three teenagers in Finn Jones, Ollie Smith and Morgan Ward, who have all progressed through the Shropshire pathway - complete an excellent victory with 11 balls to spare at Wem Cricket Club.
Malvernkar's entertaining innings is the second highest score from a Shropshire player in the history of the T20 competition, only bettered by George Hargrave's unbeaten 129 against Wales at St Asaph in 2024.
The result and performance was just the response Shropshire wanted after losing the day's opening match by 32 runs, with Shropshire - just like a week earlier against Cheshire at Didsbury in this season's T20 opener - hitting back impressively to win the day's second game.
Shropshire are currently third in the five-team Group One table ahead of double-headers against Cumbria at Cockermouth on June 14 and Northumberland at Wellington a week later.
Ed Ashlin, Shropshire's first-team coach, said: "It was a good day of cricket overall. Credit to Wem as the ground was looking lovely and the wicket produced a good balance between bat and ball, as you saw with the scores.
"They were two competitive games. We were disappointed not to get closer, or win the first game, having restricted Staffordshire really well, but again, the same as last week, we showed good character in the second game to come back and win it convincingly, so overall lots of positives from the day."
Staffordshire, invited to bat first by Shropshire skipper Tom Fell in both games, accumulated 148-5 from their 20 overs in the day's second match.
An unbroken sixth wicket stand of 54 between Ollie Walker (51no) and Joe Hawkins (33no) boosted their total after earlier being reduced to 51-4, with opener Nils Priestley making 25.
Ben Roberts took 2-31 while there was a wicket apiece for Matt Simmonds, Smith and Joe Stanley.
Shropshire then chased well with openers Malvernkar and Joe Johnson quickly putting on 74 in six and a half overs, before Johnson headed back to the pavilion for 23.
Malvernkar continued to impress, sharing a second wicket partnership of 68 with Fell (27) as Shropshire closed in on victory, progressing to 151-2 from the first ball of the penultimate over, to leave honours even.
It's not the first time that Malvernkar, who plays for Milford Hall in the Birmingham League, has enjoyed himself in T20 cricket against Staffordshire as he hit 85 when Shropshire beat them at Burslem last June.
"Sahal struck the ball brilliantly," added Ashlin. "He has a really clear plan when he bats. He took the game away from them and it was a match-winning knock.
"He helped us get off to a flyer in the powerplay, but when the field went out he really showed his class. He was still looking to hit strong shots, but he also played smart cricket in between, so that was great."
The day's opening match at Wem saw Staffordshire, helped by contributions from Walker (36), Priestley (34) and Matt Morris (24), post 143-7.
Shifnal seamer Roberts claimed 2-15 - he ended the day with overall figures of 4-46 - while Smith took 2-45, with a wicket apiece for Simmonds, Anis Raza and Connor Marshall.
Shropshire, in reply, started brightly, and were 50-1 in the sixth over, but then started to lose wickets regularly as they eventually ended on 111-9.
Shrewsbury's Finn Jones top scored with 21 on his county first-team debut and Johnson made 19, with Jake Garlick (4-17) and former Lancashire seamer Liam Hurt (3-17) the pick of the Staffordshire bowlers.
On Shropshire's hopes ahead of their remaining T20 fixtures, Ashlin said: "It's still open. There's still a fair bit of cricket to play, four matches, at Cumbria and at home to Northumberland, so it looks like it's a very competitive and close group.
"We're just hopefully going to be as strong as we can for Cumbria and go up there and be competitive. I think we've got a nice balance with the young ones coming in to the team. They've added something as well and deserve to be there, and it's great experience for them, and we've had good quality overall as well."
