Six-shooter Green helps Beacon gun down leaders

Green, who ended unbeaten on 77, smashed four maximums from the first four balls of the penultimate over to take the Bratch men past Tamworth’s total of 251 all out and move them up to third place in the Premier Division.

Beacon, bowling first, had Tamworth in trouble at 65-3 after 14 overs but strong batting performances from Scott Daly, who scored 82 ,and Stuart Burrows (49) saw Tamworth post a competitive-looking 251. Callum Westwood was the pick of the home bowlers, picking up four wickets for 43 runs.

It looked like a tough chase for Beacon as they were reduced to 111-5 before battling knocks from opener Sam Flavell, their South African professional, Joshua Chesworth (49) and Green saw Beacon home by three wickets.

With second-placed Pelsall beating Milford Hall by four wickets, Tamworth’s lead at the top was cut to 13 points.

Milford batted first with openers Stuart Phazey and Dominic Afford putting on 58 runs for the first wicket before a flurry of dismissals reduced the home side to 134 for seven.

Sam Beales’ 53 and Ejaz Nawaz’s quick-fire 38 steadied the Milford ship as they finished on 201 all out.

Opener Tom Boyd’s 86 and Todd Henderson’s 43 were the highlights of the Pelsall innings as they chased down the Milford total with more than five overs to spare. Aaron Afford’s impressive bowling figures of five for 59 were not enough to stop Pelsall’s charge.

At the other end of the table, Cannock secured 20 vital points in a tense, low-scoring victory over seventh-placed Fordhouses.

Cannock chose to bowl first and bundled out Fordhouses for just 70, with John Cooke taking four wickets for only 11 runs from his 7.4 overs and Daniel Bowker’s three for 19 routing the visitors’ batting line-up.

But what looked to be a simple chase proved anything but for the home side as Cannock themselves suffered a rattle of wickets, leaving them deep in trouble at 18-4.

Sam Harris’s 29 got the Stags back into the game and they eventually limped over the line to claim victory with just one wicket remaining.

James Boden (14) and Dan Bowker (12) were the only other Cannock batters to reach double figures.

The win saw Cannock move above Wolverhampton Seconds, who now sit in the drop zone after a losing draw against fourth-placed Brewood.

Brewood’s Andrew Calvert’s provided the stand-out performance of the match, smashing 102 with the bat as they posted 282 for three from their 50 overs before taking three for 18 with the ball.

Wolverhampton finished on 129 for six as they batted out their overs to claim four points.

Ninth-placed Hammerwich lost at Penkridge, who sit one place above them in the table, by 179 runs. Callum Morrell’s 89 and Samuel Smith’s five-for took Penkridge to victory as Hammerwich were skittled for 76.

At fifth-placed Wombourne, relegation candidates Whittington posted 142 all out – a total which proved little trouble for Wombourne who knocked them off for the loss of five wickets with more than 22 overs to spare.