Written by Nick Archer at the Birmingham League, whose original article you can find here.
An astonishing unbeaten 151 from 98 balls by ex-Worcestershire player Alexei Kervezee helped Premier Division Two leaders Halesowen recover from 121 for eight against Bridgnorth to an imposing 290 for nine at the close after 55 overs. The only other batsman to score more than 13 was James Rudge who hit 69 as he joined Kervezee in a stand of 169 for the ninth wicket which was ended when Rudge was out to the last ball of the innings. Kervezee hit 12 fours and six maximums while Rudge, from 95 balls, hit three fours and four sixes. David Exall took five wickets for Bridgnorth, but they came at a high cost of 102 runs. A shell-shocked Bridgnorth slumped to 40 for five, then 79 for eight before they were dismissed for 112 in 26 overs. Eddie Rhodes (4 for 44), Peter Scott (3 for 11) and Rudge (3 for 55) were the only bowlers used by Halesowen as they bounced back from last week’s defeat to Harborne.
Even though they were inactive, due to Wem’s second Covid outbreak of the season, Himley regained second place after Kenilworth Wardens were restricted to a losing draw at Bromsgrove who showed a welcome return to form by scoring 339 for six declared in 54 overs. Ash Newfield (94), Jayden Levitt (76) and Freddie Fallows (53) were all in good form as the Wardens attack was put to the sword. Unsurprisingly, the Wardens response was tame as they batted out time on 226 for seven with Ali Asif hitting 101. Gareth Williams took 4 for 41 for Bromsgrove who prior to this result, were sliding towards a relegation battle.
The battle to avoid relegation took on a new twist with bottom club Pelsall defeating 11th in the table Oswestry by six wickets. This result sees the clubs change places, but they both, still, have a lot to do to reel in the sides above them. The ever-impressive Warrick Fynn gave Oswestry a flying start with 91 from 88 balls but his dismissal at 139 for six was the beginning of the end as the Shropshire side were all out for 174 in the 46th over. Jujar Johal did most of the damage with 5 for 40 and Todd Henderson backed him up with 5 for 40. Opener Jake Lee (70 not out) played a pivotal role for Pelsall, and they romped to an easy victory in the 43rd over after Henderson (50 not out) joined Lee in an unbroken fifth wicket stand of 61 to re-ignite their bid for survival.
Barnards Green returned to action after a week’s inactivity due to Covid and they showed no signs of rustiness by crushing Harborne by five wickets. Guriq Randhawa hit 52 and Swapnil Gugale added 48 as Harborne were dismissed for 224 in the 51st over with Josh Dickenson taking 3 for 32 for the visitors. In reply, Ryan Tongue was soon into his stride with 78 and Zain ul-Hassan thumped 52 from 39 balls as the visitors strode to a comfortable win which moves them up to third place in the race for promotion.
Wolverhampton overseas player Ali Waqas recorded the highest individual score of the day with an unbeaten 154 at Dorridge, including 20 fours and three sixes. Charlie Mackelworth, promoted to open the innings, lead off with 43 as Wolverhampton reached 300 for five after 55 overs. Dorridge made a brave attempt to chase down the total, falling to a 28 run defeat as they were dismissed for 272 with 11 balls remaining. Suffolk’s Ben Shepperson hit 90 from 94 balls after Luke James had smashed 76 from 55 balls at the start, but a mean spell of 3 for 49, from 17 overs, by Shropshire’s Charlie Home was instrumental in Wolverhampton’s victory.
