Written by Nick Archer at the Birmingham League, whose original article you can find here.
In a nail-biting finish at Wem, the home side hung on for a winning draw against Bromsgrove in a match reduced to 24 overs per side after a late start, due to the heavy rain of the previous week. Bromsgrove won the toss and invited Wem to bat first and the League leaders were dismissed for 82 with three balls remaining. Top scorer was Mohit Kale with 27 but five of his colleagues failed to trouble the scorer. Ash Newfield took 5 for 20 for Bromsgrove and he also led Bromsgrove’s response with the bat. However, after he was dismissed for 39, at 75 for five, Bromsgrove were unable to score the remaining seven runs needed for victory, finishing one short of the Wem total for the loss of two more wickets. Ben Peel (3 for 30) took the vital wicket of Newfield and then took the next two wickets as Bromsgrove failed to make it over the line.
The 14 points earned by Wem keeps them at the top of the table, two points ahead of Halesowen who crushed Pelsall by 10 wickets after dismissing the visitors for 55 at Seth Somers Park. Worcestershire’s Charlie Morris (4 for 15) made early inroads and James Rudge (3 for 9) mopped up the tail. Halesowen were, then, steered calmly, to victory by an unbroken opening stand of 56 between Jamie Harrison (25 not out) and Jamie Harris (23 not out).
Harborne moved off the bottom of the table, thanks to a winning draw against Bridgnorth in a match reduced to 30 overs per side. After slipping to 21 for three, Harborne were rescued by a superb unbeaten 101, from 76 balls, by Karan Bharaj, assisted by a bold 33 from skipper Tom Arnold. Charlie Walker took 3 for 66 for the Shropshire club but Harborne’s tally of 205 for six proved way too much for Bridgnorth who closed on 149 for eight from 30 overs. Simon Gregory top scored with 40 and Arnold took 4 for 45 for Harborne who earned 18 points from the match including four batting and four bowling points. Bridgnorth took three batting and three bowling points to add to their two points for a losing draw.
