Premier League Division Two Review – 7th August

Written by Nick Archer at the Birmingham League, whose original article you can find here.

The weather, also, played a prominent part in Premier Division Two where two matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled and the other four matches were decided by DLS calculations. The surprise result of the day came at Pelsall where the home side defeated top of the table Halesowen by 45 runs. Beginning the day at the foot of the table, Pelsall, after being invited to bat first, reached 183 for eight in an innings reduced to 33 overs, following heavy rain after the match had commenced. Jake Lee hit 42 for Pelsall as the usually reliable opening bowlers for Halesowen were dispatched around the park. Halesowen’s target was 192 from 33 overs but they were never in the hunt, despite 44 from Harry Baddams and 32 from Alex Hinkley. Jamie Holmes took 3 for 19 and Halesowen had reached 135 for nine from 28 overs when time was called, sinking to an unexpected defeat.

The match between second placed Himley and third in the table Barnards Green was abandoned without a ball being bowled which meant that neither side could take advantage of Halesowen’s defeat and both side’s inactivity, also, allowed Kenilworth Wardens to climb above them into second place following an exciting three wicket victory, via DLS, over Wolverhampton who reached 229 for seven from 45 overs after rain had interrupted their innings in the 37th over. Charlie Home (70 not out), Ramanjot Jaswal (52) and Ali Waqas (40) were the leading run makers for Wolverhampton with Jabez Weale taking 4 for 54 for Wardens who were set a revised target of 251 from 45 overs. A superb unbeaten 116 from Harry Johnson, from 94 balls, and 44 from 31 balls from Tom Mordey helped Wardens over the line with four balls to spare. Johnson hit seven fours and three sixes as Wardens returned to one of the promotion places.

Another match that was abandoned without a ball being bowled was the clash between Bridgnorth and Harborne at Cricket Meadow, in contrast to the match between Dorridge and Oswestry which was, only, reduced by seven overs in total after some astute thinking by the umpires who combined the extra 30 minutes allowable with an early tea break. After losing the toss, Dorridge were invited to bat first and soon took advantage of a good pitch and a flat outfield. An opening stand of 53 between Mohammed Talukder (53) and Luke James (15) laid a strong platform from which Roshan Venkataraman (146 not out) and Ben Shepperson (84) took full advantage, taking the score from 135 for two to 278 before the latter’s dismissal. Venkataraman faced 119 balls and struck fifteen fours and five sixes in a classy performance, while acting skipper Shepperson hit 84 from 62 balls including fourteen fours and a six. There was, still time for Dorridge to add another 101 after Shepperson was out, the final total of 379 for four coming from a full allocation of 50 overs. Faced with an almost, impossible task, Oswestry, who lost seven overs when rain halted play after 20 overs of their innings, were all out for 195, in 39 overs, going down to a 163 run defeat and slumping to the foot of the table. Ryan Lockley (56 not out) held the innings together before Perry Derrick finished things off for Dorridge with 4 for 35.

The vagaries of the weather also, affected the match at Bromsgrove where Wem were the visitors. Batting first Wem reached 202 for five from 32 overs with Mohit Kale top scoring with 72. This left Bromsgrove with a revised target of 226 from 32 overs to win but fell 21 runs short on 205 for six with half-centuries from Jayden Levitt (58) and Ash Newfield (54).