Words by Paul Smith at Stumped4Words.com
Harborne fell seven runs short of claiming a winning draw from their rain affected Birmingham Premier League Division Two visit to Wolverhampton.
Chasing a target of 183 from 36 overs, Guriq Randhawa’s unbeaten 39 saw the visitors close on 146 for seven.
In the face of tight spells from Swapnil Gugale and George Land the home side had earlier found batting a similarly tough task as they battled to 182 for six in 50 overs.
With six rounds of action remaining Harborne now lie in eighth place in a densely-packed table with Wolverhampton, Wem and Bridgnorth all in close proximity.
Captain Tom Arnold felt his team had the worst end of the weather but was pleased with their efforts with bat and ball.
“Wolves got off to a pretty good start but we dragged it back well with George and Swapnil and were pleased to hold them to 182,” he said.
“When further rain reduced our innings to 36 overs we were then left with a tough task to get the win due to the conditions.
“We got off to a decent start but when Wolverhampton brought on their spinners it made it pretty difficult and we ended up just short of the winning draw target.
“It was a shame we only had 36 overs as we felt pretty confident – we were just unfortunate with the rain.”
After home openers Ramanjot Jaswal (41) and Charlie Mackleworth posted a 46-run opening stand the introduction of Indian pro Gugale’s off-spin put a brake on proceedings.
As a consequence, Wolverhampton slipped to 118 for six before the arrival of Pirmjit Kalair, who made an even-time 33, provided the hosts with some late acceleration.
He added 64 crucial seventh-wicket runs with Charlie Home, whose 114-ball unbeaten 42 included only one boundary plus a six.
Gugale finished with 2-31 from 15 accurate overs while Land had an identical return from four fewer overs.
After the loss of 90 minutes to rain, Arnold (21) and Gugale got the visitors’ chase away to a brisk start before the home side claimed three quick wickets.
A useful partnership between Ranghawa and the in-form Tejas Wagle (21) then threatened to swing the initiative back in Harborne’s direction.
But Home claimed 3-25 for the home side to thwart a late charge from Randhawa and Archie Vaile (22).
