Written by Nick Archer at the Birmingham League, whose original article you can find here.
In Premier Division Two, the match between Oswestry and Bromsgrove was declared void due to Covid issues at Bromsgrove and all the other games, bar the match between Barnards Green and Bridgnorth, were affected by the weather.
Top of the table Halesowen faced second in the table Himley, who were hoping to seal a seasonal double over the leaders, but interruptions for rain during the afternoon reduced Himley’s reply to 30 overs after Halesowen had been bowled out for 154. Peter Scott (56) held the innings together as opening pair Jamie Turner (5 for 43) and Saul Anstey (3 for 51) ran through the rest of the Halseowen line-up. Himley were, then, faced with a revised target of 102 for a winning draw and finished on 108 for six as Josh Rudge claimed 3 for 22 for Halesowen.
Barnards Green missed an opportunity to make up ground on Halesowen and Himley by going down to a 21 run defeat to Bridgnorth, who reached 183 all out after recovering from 100 for seven. Adam Quiney hit an unbeaten 60 from 63 balls for Bridgnorth with Josh Blunt taking 3 for 38 and Josh Dickenson taking 3 for 63 for Barnards Green. Quiney was, also, Bridgnorth’s best bowler, picking up 4 for 40 as Barnards Green were all out for 162 in the 49th over.
The match between Wem and Pelsall was a nail-biting affair as the home side scaped to a one wicket victory after dismissing Pelsall for 115. Todd Henderson was unbeaten on 30 for Pelsall, as Andrew Harrison collected 5 for 21 for the Shropshire side, who soon, slipped to 31 for six, then 68 for seven, in reply. Harrison then showed his mettle with the bat, compiling an unbeaten 26 to see Wem home, despite 4 for 39 from Henderson and 4 for 40 from Sadrian Ward.
Dorridge moved well away from the danger zone with a four wicket win over Kenilworth Wardens, another side who failed to take advantage of the results of the sides above them. Wardens were shot out for 126 in 45 overs, thanks to the combined efforts of David Ball (4 for 34), Jack Mills (3 for25) and Roshan Venkataraman (3 for 31). Dorridge were left with 40 overs to chase down the target, which they achieved with almost 10 overs to spare, with Suffolk’s Ben Shepperson hitting 39. Amin Bal took 4 for 43 for Wardens whose promotion hopes look more remote as the weeks pass by.
The match between Wolverhampton and Harborne was, also, affected by the rain with Wolverhampton closing on 182 for six from 50 overs. Charlie Home finished unbeaten on 42 for Wolverhampton after Ramanjot Jaswal had hit 41 at the top of the order. Faced with a revised target of 153 for a winning draw, Harborne were 146 for seven at the end of their 36th and final over with Home taking 3 for 25 for Wolverhampton.
