Halesowen take advantage to close gap on the leaders
Halesowen took full advantage of the weather and other results to close the gap on the Birmingham League leaders to four points.
They got the better of Barnards Green with an emphatic DLS-adjusted 46-run home win on bank holiday Monday.
Chris Whittock was the shining star for Wes Griffiths’ team, making a sparkling 118-ball 122, including four sixes. With Ed Bragg also making 47 the stage was set for a late James Rudge onslaught, which saw six of the 18 deliveries he faced deposited over the ropes as Halesowen closed on 265-5.
Chasing a revised target of 234 from 37 overs Barnards Green slipped to 61 for four before Phil Harris weighed in with a 61-ball 83 in their 187 all out. Bragg and Rudge completed a good day by sharing five wickets for the hosts.
With two games of cricket played over the weekend, Halesowen’s victory over Barnt Green on Saturday has them within touching distance of Smethwick, the league leaders.
They dropped points at home to Himley after a three-wicket defeat.
In a contest reduced to 40 overs per side, Ben Robinson (4-24) combined with Hasitha De Silva and James Lunn who grabbed two wickets apiece to dismiss their hosts for 151.
Smethwick’s Indian pro Deepak Khatri continued his impressive start to Birmingham League life with a half-century but the 2022 champions otherwise made little impact with the ball, and Himley duly eased home on the back of James Clark’s 52.
It was a successful weekend for Himley who also got a winning draw against Wolverhampton on Saturday – their bank holiday Monday clash at Berkswell was abandoned.
Half-centuries from young opener Levi Gekis (50) and all-rounder Ben Blakemore (65) steered Kenilworth Wardens to a 14-run win at West Bromwich Dartmouth under DLS.
After Wardens posted 233, a late partnership between Shahzeb Raza (37no) and Cameron Jones (37) threatened to get the hosts to their revised 32-over target of 177, but three wickets from Freddie Fowler ensured Wardens held their nerve.
Dartmouth have now lost all five of their opening league games since returning to the top flight. In Division Two, Old Hill suffered a heart-stopping five-run defeat under DLS at home to Leamington.
The host’s quest for 172 from 32 overs collapsed from 141 for one to 156 for nine. Waqas Ahmed made 71 from the top of the home order, and he had earlier done an equally good job with the ball while sharing six Spa wickets with Aamir Manzoor.
Kabir Sodhi top-scored with 53 for Leamington who made 179 for eight from their 35 over allocation. They suffered a narrow one-wicket defeat to Wellington on Saturday too.
Tamworth claimed a five-wicket home win over Kidderminster on Monday, but the Worcestershire side did manage to beat Worfield on Saturday to register 20 points.
