Jordan stars with ball in convincing win
TANWORTH and Camp Hill stole the headlines in the Premier Division as they stormed to a ten-wicket victory over newly promoted visitors Elmley Castle.
Captain Andy Turnbull won the toss and his decision to bowl first paid dividends as their opponents were skittled out for just 63.
Opener Stuart Cullen hit 33 but no-one else managed double figures largely due to the bowling of Seth Jordan who bagged 8-29 in 8.1 overs. Tim Keyte took 2-10 from his six overs.
In reply, openers Martin Perfect (25no) and James Carey (34no) wasted little time, chalking up the runs in the 11th over.
Kineton were another side in impressive form as they eased their way to a 238-run victory at Long Itchington.
Batting first, openers Adam Lane and George Wilcock put on 160 for the first wicket before the former was bowled for 82. Wilock went on to make 107 before being trapped lbw and there were also useful contributions from Rory Geary-Heaton (37) and skipper James Cooper (35) whose innings included four 6s.
Sam Cooper (18no) and Isaac Rowles (10no) were still there at the close as Kineton posted 328/5 from their 45 overs.
Lane then showed his prowess with the ball to take the wickets of both Long Itchington openers on his way to figures of 4-9 off nine overs. Alastair Loughton snaffled up 3-11 off 1.5 overs and there were also wickets for James Cooper and Matthew Mahler as the home side were dismissed for just 90.
There was no play between Exhall and Wixford and Shipston and Wellesbourne were on the receiving end of a six-wicket defeat at the hands of last season’s runners-up Bretforton.
Openers Gary Maynard (77) and Tommy Wheeler (27) gave the hosts the perfect start but when the wickets stared to fall, there was no stopping the decline with Wellesbourne losing six for just four runs – slumping from 105/0 to 109/6.
Greg Ricketts dug in for a vital 25 late on to edge the score to 168/7 at the close and he then did the business with the ball, taking out both openers with 26 on the board.
But that brought former Worcestershire star Daryl Mitchell to the crease and his 82 off 74 balls put the visitors back on tack and they reached their target with the loss of four wickets and plenty of overs in hand.
Alcester and Ragley stormed to an emphatic 186-run victory over Norton Lindsey and Wolverton in Division One to take the early lead at the top of the table.
After winning the toss, skipper Paul Dipple elected to bat and openers Ben Shuttleworth and David Stokes put on 99 for the opening wicket before the former was bowled by Varun Goel for 45.
Stokes soldiered on before becoming Goel’s second victim on 50 but Rohan Campbell stuck around until the close with an unbeaten 67.
Nick Hosty added an important 36 and Dipple was also there at the end on 33no as the Ragley park side reached 300/5 from their allotted overs.
Other than an unbeaten 52 from David McInnes, runs proved hard to come by for the visitors particularly when faced with the bowling of Stephen Capron who took 4-21 from his 7.3 overs.
Stokes also impressed with figures of 3-16 and there were also two wickets for Chris Dawson as Norton Lindsey were skittled out for 114.
Temple Grafton also picked up their second win on the bounce, beating Stratford 3rds by three wickets.
Matthew Denton-Cooke was the pick of the Grafton bowlers with 3-21 from ten overs with Matt Harvey also bagging three while Ed Harris, Sam Roberts and Dan McAdam picked up the others as Stratford were dismissed for 181. Of the batsmen, Liam O’Neill top scored with 46 while Sam Gill and James Harcourt hit 31 apiece.
Things looked to be going the way of the visitors when Grafton slumped to 33/4 but Gareth Barry (49no) Lewis Bilbrough (36) and Alex Beesley (42) helped them to their target for the loss of seven wickets.
Also in Division One, FISSC won a low-scoring match with Ashorne and Moreton Morrell, winning by four wickets after the visitors were dismissed for 64 helped by Bharath Sampath Kumar’s 5-19. Louis Glover chipped in with 3-13.
Ashorne’s Thomas Husselby then took 5-14 as the visitors looked to grab an unlikely win but FISSC reached their target in the 21st over thanks largely to Pankaj Kane’s 32 not out.
In Division Two, Southam picked up maximum points with their 162-run defeat of Mickleton when a 106-run partnership from unbeaten pair Owen Kennedy (49no) and Dean Jordan (44no) steered the visitors to 207/5.
Mickleton struggled from the start with just one batsman reaching double figures while their opponents shared the wickets around six bowlers.
Opener Dan Chandy scored 58 and all-rounder Josh Hands scored 31 not out and took 3-21 as Bidford beat Norton Lindsey and Wolverton 2nds by eight wickets but there was defeat for Moreton-in-Marsh at Leek Wootton 2nds despite Daniel Salvage’s decent 45-run knock and four wickets wickets for Harry Mercer.
Henley were the star turns in Division Three as they saw off neighbours Great Alne by 123 runs.
Half-centuries from Ricardo Rebelo (75) and Saleen Jan (64) helped guide them to 222 all out and this proved too much for their visitors who were all out for 99 in the 28th over.
Jan, Chris Key and Alan Stevens took three wickets apiece while Great Alne’s Richard Brereton took 4-14 off 9.1 overs.
Elsewhere in the division, Welford edged out Wellesbourne 2nds by 17 runs but there were defeat for Claverdon and Earlswood while in Division Five, Blockley were convincing nine wicket winners at home to Alvechurch and Hopwood 4ths helped by an unbeaten 92 from Josh Vick.
