Faizan Khan hits the ground running for Cannock
Cannock’s overseas ace Faizan Khan has wasted little time adjusting to English conditions with the runs continuing to flow.
The Pakistan batsman reeled off his second century of the summer to help Cannock to a resounding 208-run success against Rugeley.
Khan stroked his way to 117 as the Chase Park men posted 336-7, taking his Premier Division run tally so far to 316 in four games.
Cannock have recruited some impressive overseas players in recent years with South African Brian Barnard and Australian Anthony Sams both plundering more than 1,000 runs in a season.
And skipper Adam Benton believes they have another gem.
“Faz has made a great start, That’s two hundreds and a fifty so far,” said Benton.
“It was a brilliant innings and he looks like a very good accumulator of runs.
“He has adapted to English conditions very well and looks like he could be a key player for us.
“One of our team mottos is ‘stats speak volumes’ and his stats are looking good at the moment.
“To have him coming in at four and Will Fleet in the middle-order, if we can get a good start then we are going to be putting some big totals on the board.”
Benton and Fleet both chipped in with 39 on Saturday while Connnor Shingler added 48 and Dan Wood made his first Premier Division half-century. Junaid Khan picked up 5-68.
Fleet and Ryan Elliott then claimed three wickets each as Rugeley were dismissed for 128.
Scott Gretton (43) and Jonathan Pearson (39) were their main contributors with the bat.
The victory saw Cannock climb above Hammerwich into second place, 11 points behind league leaders Beacon.
The table-toppers picked up a winning draw in their clash of the day away to Hammerwich.
Opening batsman Ash Hartshorn made a fine 109 to help Beacon to 275-9 from their 50 overs.
Tom Bingham (47) and Jarrod Alberts (28) provided support while Craig Jennings bagged four wickets.
Hammerwich suffered a nightmare start to their reply as they lost both openers without a run on the board and then a further wicket with the score on four.
But Andy Malkin (49) and John Jennings (47) steadied the ship with a much-needed 103-run stand before an unbeaten 56 from South African all-rounder Matthew Deyzel saw them to 207-6 at the close. Bingham capped a good day by picking up 3-39.
