Division One
BEN ROBINSON'S five-wicket haul steered Himley to a third consecutive Birmingham & District Premier League Division One victory - by a seven-wicket margin against Shrewsbury.
The visitors were put into bat and Jamie Turner (3-41) made early inroads as they fell to 86/5. An unbeaten 64 from Shropshire's Seb Scott then kept Shrewsbury's hopes alive but with Robinson claiming 5-52 Salop closed on 198/9 from their 55 overs.
By contrast, Himley openers Spencer Grove and Ollie Walker (42) gave the hosts a platform of 77 to which keeper Joe Wright added 45. With Grove finishing unbeaten on 81 Himley eventually reached 200/3 with over six overs spare.
Meanwhile, table-toppers Smethwick maintained their perfect start to the campaign with a five-wicket win at struggling Moseley.
Manraj Johal, Deepak Khatri and Sagar Udeshi took three wickets apiece for the two-time champions while an unbeaten half-century from Ali Awan, and Asim Shoaib's 31 helped Moseley to 147 all out from 43.4 overs.
In reply Smethwick lost a pair of early wickets to South African left-arm paceman Salmaan Ajam and at one point were struggling at 38/3.
However, Viken Kedariya remained a reassuring presence and his 93-ball 77 saw his side to the finishing line at 148/5 in the 42nd over.
Halesowen were the day’s biggest scorers as a 221-run partnership between Worcestershire prospect Joe Porter and Herefordshire's Luke Tulacz helped them overcome Kenilworth Wardens by 102 runs.
Halesowen were wobbling at 4/2 before the pair launched a partnership lasting two-and-a-half hours which resulted in their side posting a formidable 285/5.
Ed Bragg then took over with the ball to rip through the visitors' top-order in a dazzling spell which saw him finish with 5/69.
And Wardens were unable to recover from 56/5 despite the best efforts of Ben Fitzgerald (47) and Jack Pidgeon (43) which took them to 183 all out.
Barnt Green were left to reflect on a missed opportunity as Ombersley's last pair battled through 11 overs to claim an unlikely losing draw.
BG opener Henry Cullen contributed a fluent 72 from 89 balls but good displays from Joel Cox (4-52) and Cullen's Pears teammate Dan Lategan (2-55) saw the visitors slip from 202/6 to 222 all out.
In reply Ombersley were behind the run-rate after opener Lategan top-scored with an even-time 42, and with Jack Warner grabbing 4/24, at 169/9 it seemed their race was run.
However, Ritchie Harley and Ishaan Arora were then unmovable as the hosts hung on three extra overs to salvage a draw at 172/9.
Barnards Green also had to settle for a winning draw after failing to see off their hosts on a good Dorridge batting pitch.
Barnards skipper Ryan Tongue spent over three hours at the crease and his 137-ball 103 plus half-centuries from Ollie Halion and Phil Harris, helped their side set a target of 284/7.
Dorridge rose to the challenge through debutant former Handsworth opener Montcin Hodge and Dani Khan who both passed 50 and they finished unmoved on 261/8, despite the best efforts of former Worcestershire and Leicestershire spinner George Rhodes who claimed 5-65.
Knowle & Dorridge ran out two-wicket victors against Harborne after chasing down a target of 242.
At 147/7 this seemed an unlikely outcome but K&D's lengthy batting line-up meant Omaris Khan, who made an unbeaten three-hour 67, had former and current county stars Nick James (39) and Ethan Bamber (29no) as eighth and ninth wicket partners during the closing stages.
Former Moseley Ashfield paceman Rayyen Khan took four wickets for Harborne whose earlier batting effort was built around Bears U18 skipper Eddie Miller (59) and former Worcestershire veteran Alexei Kervezee (56). Bamber claimed four wickets for K&D.
Division Two
AN UNBEATEN century from in-form Pakistani ace Rizwan Hussain maintained Attock’s bright start to BDPCL life as they overcame Worfield by four wickets.
The former Ombersley pro oversaw the home side's recovery from 54/4 to their 250-run target in the 53rd over.
The visitors could earlier have put the game out of reach as runs throughout their top and middle order, headed by Aman Hussain’s 62, helped them to 205/4.
However, former Lichfield seamer Umer Khalid then took 3-41 and with Ismail Mohammed grabbing 4-48 Worfield were bowled out for 250.
Meanwhile, league leaders Berkswell were made to work hard for their three-wicket home win against West Bromwich Dartmouth.
The visitors elected to bat and made themselves at home through opener Ateeq Javid, who hit 81 from 147 balls, and Kobe Herft who fell one run short of his half-century. Aussie paceman Ryan Sidebottom caught the eye with 5-38 as the visitors closed on 206/8.
Berkswell also found it slow going at times but with openers Will Iles (30) and William Tarrant (78) top-scoring they eventually limped over the line with nine balls remaining.
By contrast, almost 600 runs were scored at Shifnal where visitors Stourbridge chased down their hosts' sizeable 294 to claim a six-wicket win with the same number of overs unused.
Shropshire's Joe Johnson led the way for Shifnal with a quickfire 91 - including 12 boundaries – and with Rahul Kaushal (54) and Tom Fell (42) also among the runs Stourbridge faced a sizeable chase.
But Indian pro Vriitya Aravind also found boundaries easy to come by, striking 16 fours on his way to 122 from 111 balls, and with Syed Bukhari then adding an unbeaten 72 Stourbridge cruised home.
Wolverhampton bounced back from Bank Holiday defeat with an emphatic eight-wicket home win against Black Country rivals Old Hill who were packed off for 98 in 32.4 overs by home skipper Joe Stanley's 5-19.
Visiting skipper Bilal Hassan was the only batter to make his mark with a patient 39.
After the break Wolverhampton openers George Margetts (40) and Stanley (50) made batting look a much less hazardous task as they raced to 82, before their side closed out an easy win in just 19.5 overs.
Tamworth are again looking at a promotion push after recording a four-wicket win against Leamington.
Riley Ward took 4-47 as only Tamworth old boy Jason Jakeman made much batting headway with 70 from 117 balls.
This meant Leamington were bowled out for 157 - a target which posed minimal difficulty for Tamworth’s top order in which Dan Baker (46), Jacob Flower (23) and Alex Cappelluti (47) made useful contributions to their 163/6 off 37.5 overs.
The battle of the bottom two saw Milford Hall record a winning draw against Kidderminster after posting an impressive total of 304/8.
Half-centuries from Jordan Bulpitt, Theo Wylie and Ibbadat Thaman (PICTURED) who made a fine 94, helped Milford to a commanding total.
But Kidderminster held on for the losing draw points on the back of Spencer White's fine unbeaten 134-ball century.
