Written by Nick Archer at the Birmingham League, whose original article you can find here.
Although Halesowen extended their lead at the top of Premier Division Two to 24 points, it was Barnards Green, for the second week running, that caught the eye with an 87 run victory at promotion hopefuls Kenilworth Wardens. Last week, Barnards Green piled up 361 for five declared at Dorridge and this week’s journey into Warwickshire saw them exceed that by two runs, racking up 363 for five from 55 overs. George Rhodes (110) scored a century, just as he did, last week, and he was joined this time by Herefordshire all-rounder Zain ul-Hassan, who belted 105 from 78 balls. For the second week running, it was Phil Harris who applied the finishing touches, this week smashing 71 from 26 balls, including seven fours and five sixes. Amongst all the carnage, Tommy Rex emerged with 4 for 114 for Wardens, who made a valiant attempt to win the game. Eventually, they were bowled out, with one over remaining, for 276, with Harry Cullen (98) and Ben Rex (53) adding 136 for the fourth wicket. Century-makers ul-Hassan (4 for 67) and Rhodes (3 for 56) were equally effective with the ball as Barnards Green’s win takes them up to third place in the table, two points behind Himley who fell to a five wicket defeat to bottom of the table Pelsall.
Himley’s top three, Oliver Westbury (42), Bilal Hussain (32) and Callum Lea (44) all made decent starts but were, all, dismissed without going on, to leave the visitors on 218 for eight at the end of 55 overs. Jamie Holmes took 4 for 46 for Pelsall who chased down their target with more than five overs remaining after Jake Lee (86) and Todd Henderson (43) added 96 for the third wicket. Lea took 3 for 21 for Himley who were unable to prevent Pelsall from registering their first win of the season. Alexei Kervezee hit 96 and Jamie Harris scored 47 as Halesowen reached 270 for eight at Oswestry with Shropshire seamer David Laird finishing with 3 for 39 for the home side. Oswestry, then, lost their first two wickets for four before a third wicket stand of 131 between Warrick Fynn (110) and Josh Darley (49) righted the ship, but they were unable to press on as Herefordshire’s James Rudge took 3 for 40. Oswestry closed on 197 for six, leaving Halesowen with 15 points that extended their lead to 24 points at the top of the table.
After a couple of defeats in the last two weeks, Wem returned to form with a 17 point haul against Wolverhampton. Batting first, after losing the toss, Wem produced a workmanlike batting effort to reach 234 for nine from 55 overs. Top scorer was Sam Peate with 43, while Chris Peel junior and Matthew Cohen both hit 41. Off-spinners Joe Stanley (5 for 65) and Charlie Home (3 for 63) were the pick of the bowlers for Wolverhampton who included the Worcestershire duo of Adam Finch and Tom Fell in their side. Jack Stanley (31) and Fell (20) were the only Wolverhampton batters to reach 20 but they were able to hang on at 130 for nine to deny Wem the victory that their performance deserved. Overseas player Mohit Kale picked up 3 for 6 from nine overs and Tom Astley, also, took three wickets at a personal cost of 39 runs. Wem move up to fourth in the table, two points behind Barnards Green and four points ahead of Wardens.
In a low scoring match at St. Godwald’s Park, Bridgnorth were dismissed for 103 in pursuit of Bromsgrove’s total of 156.Top scorer for Bromsgrove was tail-ender Alex Wilkinson with 33, while Adam Quiney took 4 for 36 for the visitors. At 74 for two, in reply, Bridgnorth were well placed to win the game, but they lost their last eight wickets for 29 as they tumbled to 103 all out. Mark Evenson (3 for 2) and Connor Smith (3 for 28) tightened the screw after Gareth Williams had taken two early wickets for 44. Dorridge were comfortable eight wicket victors over Harborne, who were all out for 168 in 43.4 overs at the John Woolman Ground.
Strong middle-order batting from Tom Arnold (44) and Tejas Wagle (43) prevented a complete collapse and there were three wickets apiece for David Ball (3 for 31) and Perry Derrick (3 for 32) for Dorridge who were, largely, untroubled after they lost their first wicket with six on the board. Chris Wright (26) fell at 52 but there were no further successes for Harborne as Suffolk’s Ben Shepperson (67 not out) and Roshan Venkataraman (57 not out) put on an undefeated stand of 117 for the third wicket as Dorridge cantered to an easy win which lifted them further away from the foot of the table.
