Brewood’s promotion bid dented by defeat to rivals
Brewood were comfortably beaten by promotion rivals Tamworth at the weekend – severely denting their chances of promotion to the Birmingham League.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first at Deansfield, the home side were bowled out for 157. Suraj Chauhan took 4 for 22 for the visitors. On the back of two hundreds in two weeks, James Clark once again top scored for Brewood, making 48.
Tamworth made hard work of the chase, losing seven wickets. Ed Smith put the pressure on Brewood’s bowling attack early, making 38 off 28 balls getting them off to a flyer, and after a middle-order collapse, it was up to Suraj Chauhan (28 not out) to complete a fine day’s work to see his side go top of the South Staffs Premier.
Elsewhere, Wombourne won again when they visited Fordhouses.
The home side won the toss and batted first making 254 for 8 thanks to a brilliant hundred from Niall Cooper.
The opener made 109 off 122 balls. But that innings was outdone by Wombourne’s Nathan Howell, who smashed 132, including 18 fours and four sixes in the reply, to see his side get over the line with 10 overs to spare.
Hammerwich cruised to victory over Cannock after Stephen Blews took 4 for 18 to blow the visitors away for 183 after winning the toss.
Scott Elstone (46no) and Patrick Knott (65no) made light work of the chase, knocking off the score and losing just three wickets.
Milford Hall made a mammoth 367 for 5 on their way to victory at Penkridge. Waqar Saleem was the chief destroyer for the visitors. He scored 113 off 124 balls, including 14 fours and three sixes. Jamie Davis, 73 off 28 balls, offered support at the other end smashing the ball to all parts.
In the reply, Stuart Phazey took 3 for 51 as Penkridge ended up 265 for 9. Rana Hassan made 85 to put some respectability on the chase for the home side.
Beacon won an incredibly tight game against bottom-side Whittington.
After winning the toss and batting first, Whittington were bowled out for 127. Seamer Ollie Green took 4 for 27 for the visitors, and off-spinner Jake Cartwright took 4 for 56.
In reply, Beacon crawled to their target, losing eight wickets after Shamimur Rahman took 4 for 36.
Ashley Hartshorn (44) made the biggest contribution for Beacon.
And Wolverhampton seconds lost to Pelsall despite a well-made 93 from Vikul Lal.
Wolves batted first at Danescourt, and they made 204 for 8 off their 50 overs thanks to the innings from Lal, he hit 11 fours and two sixes in his knock off 122 balls.
But Pelsall eased to the target losing just three wickets. Mark Pearse made 69, and Todd Henderson finished with 40no.
The defeat leaves Wolverhampton 33 points adrift with three games to play.