Tom Fell in the runs as Shropshire grab a vital win

Yesterday’s 14-run rain-affected win at St Georges set up a winner-takes-all Group Three showdown with Cheshire next weekend.

Former Worcestershire ace Fell led the way with 117 from 127 balls, anchoring the home side’s innings as they reached 250-8 from 50 overs after winning the toss and choosing to bat.

He was ably supported by opener Andre Bradford (37) and his former Pears team-mate, Oliver Westbury, 35 from 66 balls, though only two other batters reached double figures as Cambridgeshire’s bowlers, led by James Sykes (3-46), prevented the hosts from truly cutting loose. Fell was the final man to fall, trapped leg before with the final ball of the innings.

With rain forecast, the visitors knew they needed to keep up with the rate and after opener Jack Potticary had been dismissed by Andrew Sutton for just one, Yousaf Choudhary blasted 43 from just 28 balls to ensure they did that.

But the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern equation makes wickets important and Shropshire kept taking them. Choudhary became the first of three victims for Matt Simmonds, who also removed Lee Thomason and Conor Craig for single figure scores.

From 102-5, opener Wayne White (58 not out) added 34 in five overs with Ben Clilverd but when the rain did arrive, the visitors were 14 runs behind the DLS par score.

That proved enough to see Shropshire home, with the lengthy downpour leaving no chance of a resumption.