Shropshire need quick wickets to win on final day
Shropshire’s opening National Cricket Counties Association Championship match of the season remained finely poised at the end of the second day.
Wiltshire lead by 239 runs, with three second-innings wickets still in hand after their middle order came to the rescue. Shropshire will need to bowl their hosts out quickly before embarking on a victory charge, otherwise they will be left batting the day out in hope of a draw.
Resuming on 111-5 in pursuit of Wiltshire’s first innings score of 223 all out, David Laird (55), Ben Lees (42), Sam Ellis (39) and Andrew Harrison (25) helped Shropshire progress to 253 before they too were all out.
Jack Mynott (17) and Oliver Meadows (36) got Wiltshire’s second innings off to a decent start, but when they both fell – Mynott bowled by Ben Roberts and Meadows trapped lbw by Graham Wagg – they quickly stumbled to 89-4.
Wagg struck again to remove Peter Rowe (15), caught by Laird, before Sam Whitney had Ed Young caught out by Luke Miles.
However, that is where Wiltshire began to fight back as Jake Goodwin (58) joined Jack Stearman (28) at the crease before the latter was trapped lbw by Matty Simmonds.
Tom Morton joined the party with an unbeaten 75 – and though Goodwin and Chris Aubrey (20) were removed by Whitney and Sam Ellis, the hosts had wrestled back some control.
