Written by Nick Archer at the Birmingham League, whose original article you can find here.
Premier Division Two leaders Halesowen returned to winning ways following last week’s defeat at Pelsall by comfortably disposing of Worcestershire rivals Bromsgrove by 61 runs. Halesowen won the toss and opted to bat first with Jamie Harrison providing a blazing start with 72 from 31 balls including four fours and eight sixes. He was first man out at 77 and wickets then tumbled quickly as Halesowen slid to 143 for seven before 74 from James Rudge and 73 from Harry Kitchen reawakened their challenge for promotion. The two tail-enders added 119 for the seventh wicket which enabled Halesowen to reach 290 before they were all out at the end on the 49th over. Connor Smith took 4 for 70 and Richard Kimberlin took 3 for 36 but they both conceded more than seven runs per over. Ashley Newfield (51) and Alex Milton (39) saw Bromsgrove to 108 before Newfield was third out but Bromsgrove’s hopes of victory faded as they lost wickets at regular intervals to finish 229 all out in the 45th over. Kitchen (3 for 34) and Rudge (3 for 50) were also successful with the ball for Halesowen as was Peter Scott with 3 for 43.
Kenilworth Wardens consolidated second place in the table with an easy eight wicket win at Oswestry who will require, at least, three wins from their last four games to avoid relegation to the Shropshire County League at the end of the season. Wardens won the toss and went quickly for the kill, dismissing the home side for 134 in the 38th over. Tommy Rex did most of the damage with 4 for 27 before Nick Seager clubbed an unbeaten 84 from 66 balls to ease Wardens to victory.
Himley’s promotion hopes were dented by a 26 run defeat at Harborne via DLS. Tom Payne hit 52 as Harborne reached 232 all out in 43.1 overs, leaving Himley a revised target of 237 to win in 44 overs. Matt Jeavons took 3 for 54 for Himley who were dismissed for 210 with one ball remaining. Hasan Ahmed (50) and Olly Westbury (40) batted well for Himley who were undone by 4 for 36 from Harborne skipper Tom Arnold.
Barnards Green remain firmly in the promotion race after an 82 run win over Pelsall who are still, battling hard to avoid relegation to the South Staffordshire County League. Leicestershire’s George Rhodes and Worcestershire Under 18 bat Oliver Halion, both scored centuries for Barnards Green and Zain Ul-Hassan chipped in with 63 as the home side raced to 327 for nine in 50 overs. Rhodes scored 114 from 125 balls and Halion, with two centuries to his name for the Worcestershire youngsters, earlier in the week, reached 106 from 133 balls. Todd Henderson, with 3 for 41, was the most successful bowler for Pelsall, who, yet again, made a spirited effort to chase down the target. Sam Butcher scored 49 from 81 balls but it was overseas player Sadrian Ward who provided the impetus, striking four fours and eight sixes in a 65-ball score of 92. Ul-Hassan (3 for 35) took his tally of wickets against Pelsall to 10, this season, and he was partnered by Phil Harris, who took 3 for 42 as Pelsall were all out for 245.
Wem continued their impressive 50 over form with a 29 run success in a low-scoring match against Dorridge who were all out for 114 in 37.3 overs in pursuit of Wem’s 143 all out in 35.1 overs. Wem’s top three of Harry Chandler, Sam Peate and Mohit Kale all reached the late 20’s but none of the home batters were able to dominate as Perry Derrick took 4 for 38 and current Leicestershire and former Warwickshire paceman Chris Wright finished with 3 for 17. After last week’s mammoth total against another Shropshire side, Oswestry, Dorridge will have been confident of victory but four early wickets from Andy Harrison (4 for 29) helped reduce the visitors to 40 for six then 86 for nine. There seemed to be no way back and so it proved when the last wicket fell at 114 in the 38th over.
In a match reduced to 30 overs due to a late start caused by persistent rain, Bridgnorth defeated Wolverhampton by 37 runs. The Shropshire club won the toss and chose to bat first, reaching 165 for six from their allocation. Former Wolverhampton bat Karl Quiney was unbeaten with 55 from 65 balls and took part in an unbroken seventh wicket partnership with brother Adam (29 not out) after Bridgnorth had slumped to 93 for six. In response, Wolverhampton were well placed on 80 for three before Shropshire captain Sam Whitney, due to lead the County on his home ground versus Cornwall, over the next three days, stepped up to take 6 for 20 from five overs as Wolverhampton collapsed to 128 all out in 27.1 overs. Ali Waqas top scored with 31 but once he was dismissed by Whitney, Wolverhampton folded to defeat.
