Bridgnorth off the bottom after Worfield derby clash
Bridgnorth climbed off the bottom of the Birmingham League Premier Two table after bagging the lion’s share of the points in their clash at Worfield.
The derby day encounter saw Bridgnorth responded to being asked to bat first with a convincing display as they piled up 242-9 from their 55 overs.
The innings was built around a fine knock from opener Matt Martin, who made 80 from 121 balls.
He shared a 103-run stand for the third wicket with skipper Matt Simmonds, who made 57. Niall McAdam chipped in with a useful 33 while spinner Will Weir impressed with the ball as he returned figures of 5-37 from 11 overs.
Worfield were given a solid start as openers Gregg Wright (36) and Laurence Pickin shared a half-century stand.
But the hosts then lost three wickets with the score on 57 and their response stalled in the face of some tidy Bridgnorth bowling, led by David Laird (4-51).
Joe Arnold top scored with 36 as Worfield batted out for a losing draw, ending on 189-8.
The win lifted Bridgnorth above Bromsgrove and to within 14 points of Shifnal, who had to settle for a losing draw at home to promotion-chasing West Bromwich Dartmouth.
After being put into bat, Dartmouth’s batters hit form to pile up 291-5 from their 55 overs. Ismail Mohammed made an unbeaten 100 while opener Bruce Thomason hit 80.
In reply, Shifnal openers Harvey Wakefield and Jack Edwards scored 69 and 27 respectively while Ben Lees struck 43, but the hosts rarely threatened to overhaul Dartmouth’s total and finished on 196-7.
Shrewsbury had two century makers in their Premier One clash at Smethwick but still tasted defeat.
Batting first, opener George Hargrave (116) and Peter Clark (103) shared a superb second-wicket stand of 202 for the visitors.
But Shrewsbury lost their last seven wickets for 24 on the way to 269-9 as Kadeer Ali picked up 6-74, including a hat-trick in the final over of the innings.
Ali they compiled a steady 45 at the start of the resigning champions’ reply.
But the innings of the day came from former Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire batter Bilal Shafayat.
He plundered 144 from 107 balls, including 21 fours and four sixes, as Smethwick raced to victory in the 46th over.
Roshan Venkataraman finished the game off with an unbeaten 39.
he defeat leaves Shrewsbury one place off the bottom of the table.
