Written by Nick Archer at the Birmingham League, whose original article you can find here.
A monumental unbeaten 156 from Ryan Lockley boosted Oswestry to 334 for five at Harborne where the former Bridgnorth and Halesowen batsman took advantage of the short boundaries to hit 23 fours and 2 sixes. Matt Richards (56) helped Lockley to add 162 for the third wicket and David Laird (50) assisted him in a fourth wicket stand of 108. Harborne’s response was spearheaded by Tom Payne with 107 after Swapnil Gugale struck 56 from 44 balls to set up a run chase that finished 50 runs short of the target after Warrick Fynn stepped up to take 5 for 42.
Oswestry’s total, however, was not the highest of the day, that honour falling to Halesowen who rattled up 345 for eight at Wolverhampton. Four Halesowen batsmen registered half-centuries with Alexei Kervezee top scoring with 93 from 61 balls after Jamie Harris (78) and Jamie Harrison (52) put together an opening stand of 143. Alex Hinkley chipped in with 76 as Jack Stanley took 3 for 79 for the visitors. Faced with such a daunting target, Wolverhampton lost wickets at regular intervals to finish on 242 all out.
From the depths of 39 for four Kenilworth Wardens recovered to reach 237 for nine at Bridgnorth. Teenager Henry Cullen and the more experienced Andrew Leering joint top scored with 38 but it was an unbroken 10th wicket stand of 51 by two more teenagers Tommy Rex (30 not out) and Josh Baker (25 not out) that completed the recovery. Matty Simmonds took 4 for 40 for Bridgnorth but their innings fell away after David Exall was dismissed for 34. Baker (3 for 30) and Rex (3 for 32) completed a great day for themselves and the Wardens as Bridgnorth slumped to 155 all out with more than nine overs remaining.
Wem earned a 24 run win against Barnards Green after a sparkling century from Martyn Davies (103) took them to 258 all out in 47.3 overs. Zahid Kafiat took 5 for 29 for Barnards Green who were well behind on 151 for eight after the dismissal of Josh Blunt (40) before Ashlea Brewer smashed 45 from 23 balls to revive their hopes. This, however, proved too little, too late, as Wem held their nerve to dismiss the home side for 234 with skipper Dan Cohen taking 4 for 35 and overseas player Mohit Kale picking up 3 for 29.
Connor Smith (53) and Jayden Levitt (45) shared an opening stand of 104 for Bromsgrove at Pelsall but a brave fightback from Pelsall saw the visitors slip to 145 for six. The Worcestershire side’s fortunes were revived by Freddie Fallows (49) and Mark Evenson (38 not out) and their final total of 290 for nine proved too much for Pelsall who were dismissed for 178. Jamie Holmes (3 for 26) and Jamie Harris (3 for 60) pegged Bromsgrove back after their flying start but the Pelsall batsmen were unable to put together a significant innings after Tom Boyd (45), Todd Henderson (37) and Andrew Bentley (37) had, all, made promising starts. Evenson, with 3 for 27, was the most successful bowler for Bromsgrove. Callum Lea (64) and Oliver Walker (42) were the highest scorers as Himley reached 235 for seven against Dorridge before a terrific innings from Ben Shepperson eased the Warwickshire outfit to a six wicket victory. The Suffolk batsman hit an unbeaten 114 from 118 balls with 11 fours and 4 sixes and played a dominant role in a partnership of 133 for the fourth wicket with newcomer Ashish Chakrapani (54).
