Milford close the gap on leaders Fordhouses

Jordan Bulpitt got second-placed Milford off to a flying start in their clash against Penkridge as he smashed 90 off 47 balls after they were put into bat by the visitors.

His score, along with 84 not out by Niall McHale, saw the home side amass 304-4 in just 39 overs before they declared, giving themselves 61 overs to bowl Penkridge out.

They did not need anywhere near that many. Penkridge failed to put up a fight as they were bundled out for 96 in the 19th over.

Will Davis, the former Leicestershire seamer, took 5-48, while Rob Firth took 4-44 as they romped to a 24-point victory margin.

The result was a bitter blow for Fordhouses, who were unable to get a game on against Cannock due to the inclement weather.

Abandonment

That abandonment gave other sides in the top half of the table a chance to gain ground on Fordhouses, but Wombourne failed to take advantage of that at home against Pelsall.

Having won the toss and elected to bat first, they were soon in strife at 23-5 as Tom Boyd (5-23) and Faizanullah Niazai (3-26) ripped through the home side’s top order.

They managed to scramble to 143 all out thanks to Ollie Siviter’s 31 coming at number 10. He was supported by Jack Hussey, who made 29.

And Wombourne made a good fist of trying to deny the visitors the 24 points, reducing them to 104-6, from their 24 overs.

It looked as if it would be a thrilling end to the game, but it was interrupted by weather, and Pelsall came away with the winning draw collecting 17 points.

Beacon closed the gap to Wombourne to just six points with a nail-biting victory at Hammerwich.

They bowled their hosts out for 71 thanks to four wickets from Jack Stanier and three apiece for Matthew Cartwright and Joshua Chesworth.

It was a tricky surface for batting as Beacon found it just as difficult as the hosts scrambling to their target nine down.

In fact, they were 49-9 and it was only thanks to 19no from number 11 Cartwright they managed to get over the line.

Lichfield got a huge win in their battle for survival after beating Aldridge by six wickets.

They bowled Aldridge out for 125 thanks to 4-27 from George Turner.

They eased to that total in the chase as Rich Taylor-Tibbott made a patient 46 not out from 103 balls – he was well supported by Adam Braddock who made 35. The win takes Lichfield out of the bottom two with Cannock not playing and inflicts further misery on Aldridge, who are now adrift at the bottom of the table.

Tamworth II are making a decent fist of their stint in the Premier Division they got a valuable losing draw at Walsall.

The home side batted first and made 206-7 from their 50 overs with overseas player William Mashinge top-scoring with a well-made 78 from 102 balls.

And Tamworth stood firm in the chase as they ended up 153-7 from their 50 overs.

Adam Cloyer made 47 from 87 balls to ensure they held their hosts to a draw and picked up seven points.

They are 15 points clear of 11th-placed Cannock.