Walsall cricketers hold their nerve for key win

The victory was just Walsall’s second of the Staffs Clubs Premier Division season and ended a three-game losing streak, while putting them back in touch with the teams in mid-table.

But they were made to sweat for it as the home side threatened to pull off a remarkable comeback before eventually falling short at the last.

Having been bowled out for 150 batting first, Walsall appeared to have victory in the bag when they claimed Aldridge’s ninth wicket with the hosts still more than 50 runs short of the target.

But some big hitting from last pair Nasir Ali Khan (44) and Afzal Hussain (18 not out) turned the tide and Aldridge were in with a sniff of snatching the win before Mohammed Masood Arshad bowled Khan with the first ball of the final over.

Walsall’s eventual margin of victory was just eight runs.

“It was nervy stuff but we were able to keep our composure and see it through in the end,” said Walsall skipper Salim. “We had used up all our frontline bowlers in almost bowling them out. When the last pair started hitting out we just had to stay calm and wait for the chance which we knew would fall our way.”

Aldridge had been third at the start of the day and Salim admitted the win was much-needed after a run of disappointing results, which had included a defeat at bottom club Swindon.

Walsall will host second-placed Pelsall this Saturday feeling a whole lot better about themselves, though the skipper acknowledges there remains plenty to work on.

“It was a much better performance from us all-round and this was a win we really needed after some recent disappointments. We’ve now got to take the confidence from this win into the rest of the campaign.

“Our batting can still improve. If I am being honest, when we were bowled out for 150 we felt we had maybe fallen 20 to 30 runs short of what would have been a really competitive score.

“The bowlers then did brilliantly and one of the key things was our fielding, which was much better than it has been of late.

“On Saturday we kept things tight and held on to the kind of chances which had been going down in previous weeks.

“I always felt the pressure was on Aldridge, even when things got close at the end. Pelsall will be tough but we have now shown we can compete against and beat good teams.”

An equally thrilling finish at Springvale saw Hammerwich come back from the dead to defeat the hosts by one wicket.

The game followed an almost identical pattern to that at Aldridge, with Springvale dismissed for what appeared a well below par 114 batting first.

Yet they then appeared to be on the brink of victory when their bowlers reduced the visitors to 77-9, still 38 runs short of victory.

First change bowlers Lee Allen and David Geran took seven wickets between them but the final one which would have delivered victory proved elusive.

Hammerwich’s final pair Adam Watkiss (25 not out) and Tom Rayne (12 not out) held their nerve to edge the visitors over the line to the unlikeliest of wins.

Things were far more straightforward for Penn, who moved up to fourth in the table thanks to a six-wicket win at Whittington.

A fine all-round bowling display saw the hosts dismissed for 157. Ryan Mills claimed 4-46. Opener Sandheep Dhillon was then the driving force of Penn’s successful chase, hitting an unbeaten 89.