Super seven for Phagura as Lichfield stay at the top
Brinder Phagura produced a seven-wicket salvo to blow away Beacon and keep Lichfield top of the South Staffs County League.
The Staffordshire all-rounder finished with figures of 7-27 as the Boys from the Bratch were bowled out for just 69.
Lichfield, having lost the toss, had earlier been dismissed for 168, James Fildes (5-25) having run through the tail as the visitors collapsed from 137-3.
But Phagura then took over, dismissing the top seven Beacon batters during a devastating spell, including Josh Pistorious, Dan Green, Jake Cartwright and Max Lee for ducks.
Sam Flavell, with 26 from 30 balls, was the only one to offer any resistance as the home side were bowled out in just 22.3 overs.
Victory kept Lichfield two points ahead of Milford Hall and Tamworth, who sit second and third respectively.
An impressive team bowling performance saw Milford record a comfortable eight-wicket win over Wolverhampton seconds.
Five different bowlers took wickets as Wolves were dismissed for 172 batting first, with Harry Flowers then striking an unbeaten 77 from just 55 balls as the home side chased down the target inside 23 overs.
Bottom club Rugeley, meanwhile, were unable to spring a shock at home to Tamworth. Lee Evans, Thomas Clarke and Luke Clark all claimed two wickets each as the visitors were limited to 210-9 from 42 overs. But that still proved far too tall an order for Rugeley, who were dismissed for just 71 in reply, Jason Jakeman taking 6-16.
Brewood are out of the bottom two after picking up their first win of the season in a low-scoring affair with Hammerwich.
Asked to bat first, Brewood battled to a total of 141 thanks to Greg Clark’s 39 and an equally obdurate 31 from skipper Richard Bradford, before John Jennings took 5-14 in a blistering spell to seemingly swing momentum in favour of the visitors.
Yet though the total looked small, it proved more than enough as Hammerwich were bowled out for just 78 in reply. Will Marsh was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4-19, while Dean Lones also claimed three wickets.
The match of the day took place at Wombourne, where Penkridge claimed their first win of the season in dramatic circumstances.
Seemingly in control after dismissing the visitors for 155 thanks to Tom Hudson’s excellent figures of 5-17, the hosts suddenly hit a rocky patch after Zachary Smith was their third wicket to fall with the score on 97.
A further four wickets fell for the addition of just 16 runs and though Hudson did his best to get Wombourne over the line, scoring 11 from just 55 balls, he was the last man out with his team still five runs short of Penkridge’s total.
Jack Pope did most of the damage, finishing with figures of 4-16, while Attiq Chisti also claimed three wickets before Faisal Nadeem (2-20) chiselled out the final pair.
