RAF men's cricketers impress with bat in their defeat to Staffordshire

The RAF men's cricket team were beaten in a reduced 50-over contest against Staffordshire's second XI in Wolverhampton.

Staffordshire won the toss and chose to bat on a hot day in the West Midlands, with the RAF bowlers having to toil in the sun.

Tom Shorthouse had a good day with the ball as he picked up four wickets, but Spencer Grove (84) and Ramanjot Jaswal (62) both delivered half-centuries as Staffordshire finished on 233-4.

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Ross Diver and Avish Patel led the RAF fightback as the opening batsmen and were 72 runs into the challenge before Diver was stumped just two runs shy of his 50.

Shorthouse and Adam Sutcliffe added some useful runs and Harry Hollingsworth smashed in 36 runs from just 41 balls to give the Air Force a chance.

However, Patel suffered an injury and retired from the chase as Staffordshire bowler Gurshan Singh caused havoc down the RAF batting order. His four wickets helped the minor county team win by 18 runs.

The RAF will play a number of 50-over matches, including their last game against the MCC at Vine Lane, before taking on the Inter Services in July.