Birmingham & District Premier Cricket League Round-Up: Week Five

Division One

Phil Harris took seven wickets for Barnards Green but it was not enough to stop reigning champions Smethwick from maintaining their perfect start to the season with a fifth successive victory.

Harris' new-ball burst claimed the opening quartet before he later mopped up the tail to finish with the outstanding return of 7-46. Former Notts opener Bilal Shafayat's 114 was again the mainstay for Smethwick, while Worcestershire coach Kadeer Ali (41) and Indian ace Deepak Khatri (40) made useful contributions.

The Malvern-based visitors made a decent start to their quest for 273 with skipper Ryan Tongue (76) and Ollie Halion (38) putting on 94 for the second wicket. But tight bowling from Indian spinner Sagar Udeshi (2-30) plus four wickets from Khatri kept them in check and they finally fell 11 runs short of their target, finishing on 262/9.

It was equally close at Harborne where Halesowen took the honours by a 16-run margin.

Simon Gregory top-scored for the visitors with 80 before a scintillating half-century from skipper Wes Griffiths - who hit 63 from just 31 balls - saw the Black Country side to 286 all out. Felix Haines was the pick of Harborne’s bowlers with 6-60. In reply, the hosts struggled against Harry Byrne (4-50) until Ben Shepperson made a thrilling 112 from 110 balls before being dismissed in the final over as Harborne closed on 270/9.

Knowle & Dorridge moved alongside Barnards Green in second spot through a 49-run defeat of neighbours Dorridge at Station Road.

Half-centuries from Isaac Maddy (71), Callum Bennett (56) and Nick James, who made a scintillating unbeaten 52, helped K&D recover from 39/4 to 266/8 while Sam Wood starred with the ball, taking 4-32 from his ten overs. The Dorridge response was not helped by the early loss of both openers and in-form skipper Joe Dodd to the pacy Tom Davis. Dani Khan then bolstered the innings with an excellent 84-ball 99 while all-rounder Wood contributed 50 off 38 balls, but Davis finished with 5-35 and with James and Freddie Fowler sharing four wickets the visitors were all out for 217.

Moseley remain winless and 24 points adrift of Dorridge at the foot of the table after their four-wicket setback at Ombersley.

Scotland international Andy Umeed scored 106 from 85 balls and there was a 50 from Ramanjot Jaswal as the Shirley-based visitors posted 253/6. Ombersley lost Oliver Cox in the opening over but useful contributions from skipper Nick Hammond (45), Tom Hinley (50) and Seth Essenhigh (50no) saw them claim a comfortable win with more than four overs in hand.

Himley were convincing winners at Barnt Green, their 214/8 proving out of reach for the Cherry Hill Road side.

An unbeaten 69 from Cameron Jones was key for the visitors but the Barnt Green batsmen were unable to respond, slumping to 129 all out with Matt Jeavons the pick of the Himley bowlers with 3-23.

Kenilworth Wardens moved into fourth place through their three-wicket, final-over win at Shrewsbury.

Once the hosts were dismissed for 191 Wardens recovered from a shaky start to reach 195/7 with five balls to spare through a fourth-wicket stand of 108 between Harry Johnson (51) and Oliver Dandy (48).

Division Two

Warwickshire pair Leamington and Berkswell lead the way in Division Two with Tamworth hot on their heels.

Spa's two-wicket win at Stourbridge was built around in-form skipper Jon Wigley's steady 56 off 80 balls plus a quickfire 33 from Jason Jakeman. Recently-arrived Indian pro Vriitya Aravind had earlier hit 80 for the home side who otherwise struggled to get on top of a visiting attack which was well led by slow left-armer Shailan Srikanthan's 3-41. This left the league leaders chasing 164 - a target which they eventually reached in the 43rd over.

Second-placed Berkswell were eight-wicket winners at home to Shifnal.

Hamdi Saleem (4-37) and Josh Aspinall (3-46) had the visitors on the ropes at 49/6 before a superb rearguard, led by Ben Lees’ 93 and an unbeaten 46 from Shaun Lorimer, took the recovery to 247/9.

Momentum then seemed to be with the Telford-based visitors, but Will Iles (80) and Will Tarrant (127no) had other ideas, and their 193-run opening stand took Berkswell most of the way to their eventual 250/2 - a target which arrived with seven overs remaining.

Tamworth eased to a seven-wicket success at still-winless Kidderminster on the back of a five-wicket haul from James Rudge who was well supported by Ed Smith (2-25).

This left the visitors chasing 137, a total that proved well within the reach of Aussie duo Alex Cappelluti (50no) and Riley Ward (39no) whose unbeaten 101-run partnership guided Tamworth to the finishing line in the 26th over.

There was a thrilling finish at Worfield as visitors Old Hill secured a three-wicket win with just two balls to spare.

The home side posted an impressive 286/6 from their 50 overs with opening pair Will Cook (78) and captain Ross Aucott (50) in the runs, as was JP Peters who finished on 59 not out. Bilal Hassan claimed 3-54 for Old Hill and he went on to steer his side to victory with the bat by making a perfectly-paced unbeaten 85. Opener Hasan Ahmed (72) earlier gave the visitors the perfect start to a chase which concluded at 290/7.

Attock were another side to enjoy their afternoon in the sun, cruising to a 191-run win at West Bromwich Dartmouth.

Pakistani pro Rizwan Hussain (pictured) was the day’s leading scorer with 153 off 130 balls and he received excellent support in a 254-run fifth-wicket partnership from Adam Mahmood (99no). Left to chase 319/5, eleventh-placed Dartmouth were never at the races and after slumping to 47/5 were eventually dismissed for 128 by a six-strong attack who all got among the wickets.

Half-centuries from skipper Joe Stanley (75), Rishin Upamal (55) and Reeve Evitts (55) helped Wolverhampton reach 287/7 at Milford Hall for whom skipper Jordan Bulpitt claimed 3-33.

An unbeaten 51 from Aaron Afford was then unable to prevent the hosts being bowled out for 196 as Stanley capped a fine afternoon with 3-24.