Staffs reach the knockout trophy final

Kevin O'Connell's team bowled Dorset out for 122 at Bournemouth's Chapel Gate ground to grind out a 50-run victory after an earlier batting collapse.

Captain Kadeer Ali (45), Sam Kelsall (40), and Tim Maxfield (46) got the innings off to a great start.

But Staffs lost nine wickets for 57 runs to finish on 172 all out after Dorset had put them into bat.

Tight bowling and swift fielding heaped pressure a young Dorset side, who eventually wilted under that pressure.

Alex Thomson took 4-24 off 10 overs and Greg Willott 2-30. Paul Byrne and Ali chipped in with a wicket each while Byrne and James Middleton completed the set with a pair of run-outs.

Team manager Kevin O'Connell said: "With our batting line-up the thought was, if we've struggled, we can make them struggle, and that's what we did.

"We lost our heads a little bit in our innings. Rather than taking stock, they got a bit carried away in the middle part, although Kadeer was unlucky to be judged caught behind.

"That knocked the stuffing out of us for a little bit. But we bowled in the right places, our fielding was good, we picked up a couple of good run outs, and James Middleton pulled of an excellent stumping off a wide.

"We put scoreboard pressure early on by getting early wickets and not making anything easy for them.

"They were quite a young team and they've wilted under the pressure. The wicket was not a 120 wicket, it's been good bowling."

Staffs now play Herefordshire in the final at Wormsley on August 24.

The last time they reached the Knockout Trophy final was 2009 when they lost to Norfolk.

They haven't won the one-day competition since the 1990s.