Kettleborough steadies the ship for Staffordshire
Staffordshire captain James Kettleborough delivered for his side when they needed it most with a gutsy half-century that nursed them through a testing truncated second day of the Durant Cricket National Counties Championship final against Berkshire at West Bromwich Dartmouth.
The former Northamptonshire and Glamorgan batter had mustered just 21 runs – 17 of them in one innings – from his previous six visits to the crease in the competition but his patient 64 steered Staffordshire to 163 for three in the 46.4 overs that were possible between a late start and early finish when the rain returned.
Kettleborough dug in during a partnership with makeshift opener Tom Moulton that gave Staffordshire their best start to an innings in more than a year.
Moulton was the more fluent of the opening pair and was the first to his half-century but he was also first to depart when he edged Tommy Sturgess to second slip where Euan Woods held a sharp catch diving to his right.
The weather closed in with Staffordshire 219 behind Berkshire, but with 37.2 more overs of their first innings allocation in which to reduce the deficit.
