Hertfordshire v Norfolk - Sunday 25 May 2014...
Unicorns Trophy
Sunday 25 May 2014 - Harpenden Cricket Club
Hertfordshire 223-9
Norfolk 225-8
Norfolk win by two wickets
Frustration was the overriding feeling as Hertfordshire's interest in the Minor Counties one-day competition ended with a last-over defeat by Norfolk at Harpenden on Sunday.
Nesan Jeyaratnam lost an important toss and Norfolk had no hesitation in putting Herts in to bat on a pitch which had been under cover for the best part of four days.
The decision laid off handsomely as Herts slumped to 24 for four as the ball seamed around on the drying surface.
Jamie Southgate, of Welwyn Garden City, and Harpenden's Ben Frazer rebuilt the innings with a superb partnership of 92 for the fifth wicket, before Frazer fell for 54, made off just 49 balls. Another mini-collapse saw Herts slump to 122 for seven before Potters Bar all-rounder George Scott joined Southgate to put on 68 for the eighth wicket. Scott made a useful 37 while Southgate finished on 76 not out as Herts finished their 50 overs on 223-9 having showed great character to battle back from two poor positions.
The pitch had dried steadily throughout the Herts innings and during the lunch break and by the time Norfolk started batting it had become the traditional Harpenden road, which meant Herts were going to have to fight tooth and nail to make their score competitive.
And they did, with Jeyaratnam constantly juggling his bowlers, changing fields and doing everything he could to put pressure on Norfolk's batsmen. But at 117 for one the game looked to be going only one way.
But Herts refused to give up and their four spinners tried to put a stranglehold on Norfolk. Hamsa Qayyum, the North Mymms off spinner, bowled his 10 overs for just 30, and Frazer took 3-36, while seamer Will Jones, of Harpenden, took 1-28 off his 10 overs.
In the end, though, the task proved just beyond Herts and Norfolk snuck home by two wickets off the first ball of the lasts over.
Iain Fletcher, the Herts director of cricket was full of praise for the way the side had battled. "It's frustrating, but as a group they were excellent," he said.
The performance, if not the result, put Herts in decent shape for the three-day championship campaign, which begins against Cambridgeshire at Hertford, starting on Sunday, June 8.
Hugh Bateson