Richmondshire’s season ended in disappointment at Headingley as a depleted first XI suffered a 101-run defeat to Clifton Alliance in the White Rose Trophy final.
Despite an excellent five-wicket haul from Joe White, Richmondshire were unable to chase down Clifton’s 207 and were bowled out for 106 in the 31st over.
Richmondshire went into the showpiece missing five regulars, with Shafiqullah Ghafari selected for Durham’s final match of the season, Dan Hodgson, Mike Layfield and Owen Kelly unavailable, and professional Lalith Akkaraju having returned to India.
Rob Carr took over the captaincy and, after winning the toss, elected to field.
Clifton made a strong start and reached 104 for one before Richmondshire fought back impressively.
White was at the heart of the recovery, removing Wade for 25 before dismissing Fraine, who had made 50 from 72 balls.
He went on to claim three more wickets as Clifton slipped to 133 for six.
White eventually finished with five for 55 from 15 overs, while Max Percival took two for 35.
Josh Dowson, Caleb Bradford and Sam Wood claimed one wicket each as Clifton were eventually dismissed for 207 with one ball of their 50 overs remaining.
Richmondshire were left to rue 36 extras, including 15 wides and eight no-balls.
Their hopes of lifting the trophy were then dealt a devastating blow by Clifton bowler Sam Grant.
Grant ripped through the Richmondshire top order, taking all of the first six wickets as the Dales side collapsed to 28 for six.
Wood went for nine, White for a duck and Gary Pratt for three, while Bertie Morris was trapped lbw first ball. Alex Percival made one and Max Percival was dismissed without scoring.
Captain Carr attempted to lead a recovery, hitting five fours in a battling 34 from 38 deliveries and putting on 35 with Jake Percival.
But Carr was trapped lbw by Brown with the score on 63.
Jake Percival contributed 17 and Dowson struck the only six of the match on his way to 19, but Richmondshire were eventually dismissed for 106 after 30.3 overs.
The defeat nevertheless brought the curtain down on an impressive 2026 campaign which saw Richmondshire crowned ECB Premier Division champions, finishing 25 points clear at the top.
And the club has already received a boost ahead of its title defence, with professional Akkaraju re-signing for the 2027 season.
Be the first to comment