Worcestershire league round-up: Stourport go clear at top

Stourport pulled twenty three points clear at the top of Division One 1st XI thanks to another fine bowling performance which saw them dismiss now fourth placed Worcester Nomads for 114 at Walshes Meadow to gain a comfortable victory.

Bewdley remain in second place despite a poor batting performance on the road at Feckenham as Tom Coulson grabbed another five wicket haul to reduce the visitors to 59-9 at the close.

Chaddesley Corbett moved back in to third after Mohammed Sajid scored an unbeaten 97 to help them chase down Cookley’s first innings 194-7 and the ever improving Worcester who won another tight game by two wickets this time against Hagley at Hagley Park now find themselves in fifth.

Elsewhere, Colwall moved into mid-table following a comfortable seven wicket victory over Burghill who remain bottom and Pedmore pulled themselves out of the relegation zone with their first victory of the season against Evesham.

In Division Two 1st XI Bromyard say top of the table as their overseas all-rounder Josh Van Rensburg scored a crucial half century to steer them to a four wicket victory against bottom club Wormelow.

Oldswinford moved in to second spot after they dismissed hot and cold Himbleton for 116 in the second innings to seal victory by a comfortable margin, Coombs Wood moved in to third spot after gaining a winning draw against Bredon who are now fifth and Enville, led by Matthew Branch (70) batted well again to beat lowly Bartestree by eight wickets and climb into fourth.

In other matches last week's second-placed team Belbroughton slipped to sixth after losing to Droitwich at St. Peters Field and Max Richardson and Ed Burgoyne shared eight wickets to be the main contributors for Old Vigornians as they gained a welcome victory against a previously in form Kempsey.

In Division Three 1st XI the top three remain ‘as you were’ as Alvechurch won a tight game at Five Ways by two wickets, assistant groundsman Clive Jones took 6-30 on the pitch he prepared during the week to help Rushwick beat second from bottom Hanley Castle & Upton by four wickets.

An unbeaten half century by Waqas Ahmed inflicted another defeat on bottom club Malvern who are in danger of being cut adrift if they do not improve.

Elsewhere, Netherton moved into fourth place as Hassan Shah (77) and Matt Hall (72) helped them post a first innings total of 277-7 which proved exactly one hundred too many for Bromsgrove, Martley thanks to Alexander Basford (96) and Jamie Clifford (72) posted over three hundred in the first innings for the second week in a row which was enough to gain a winning draw at Harborne and finally the match between Eastnor and Avoncroft was one of only a few which were lost to the weather.

In Division Four 1st XI West Malvern failed to take advantage of the misfortune of leaders Halesowen who had to suffer the abandonment of their home game against last week's third-placed side Astwood Bank as Adnan Wahid scored an magnificent undefeated century to grab victory for visitors Romsley & Hunnington.

One team that did take advantage of Halesowen’s disappointment was Tenbury Wells who climbed in to second place as Zak Yarranton’s took 6-34 in the second innings to ensure a comfortable win against Kidderminster.

In other matches Stourbridge gained a maximum points win over Himley, Alveley dismissed Stourport cheaply to secure a ten wicket victory and Claverley beat Hallow Taverners who must feel disappointed in not being able to chase down the ninety runs they required for victory.

In Division One 2nd XI pace setters Worcester won the battle of the top two as Duncan Kasuso (72) helped the home team chase down Hagley first innings 199 to remain top, Stourport moved into second place as they beat Worcester Nomads at Whitegates Farm by two wickets.

A fine undefeated 107 from Droitwich’s Adam Keen and 5-31 from Joshua Sinclair helped the visitors continue to climb the table as they posted a maximum point victory on the road at bottom club Pedmore, Cookley grabbed their first win of the season as they secured a maximum points win by two wickets as Harborne decided to bat first and 5-22 from Neil Evans eased Feckenham to a comfortable eight wicket win against Bewdley at Lower Park.

The other game in the division, Colwall versus Coombs Wood fell victim to a late heavy downpour.

In Division Two 2nd XI there was no change at the top as Black Country duo Oldswinford blew away an understrength Rushwick at Albemarle Road by seven wickets and Lye stay in second after unfortunately falling foul to an abandonment against Herefordshire club Wormelow.

Chaddesley took advantage of Lye’s misfortune as Zayan Mazar scored an undefeated half century to secure a four wicket win against Old Vigornians to move into third place and close the gap to three points. Bromsgrove remain in fourth spot as they had to settle for a losing draw at Netherton as they finished agonisingly three runs short of Netherton's first innings 209 nine wickets down.

In other matches Christopher MacKenzie took 5-29 for Belbroughton as they strolled to a comfortable eight wicket victory against Evesham at Hackmans Gate Lane and Enville remain bottom as their match at Bartestree was abandoned due to late heavy rain

It remains tight at the top of Division Three 2nd XI with the top five teams separated by a maximum points win. Last weeks table toppers Kempsey fell to third as they suffered a heavy defeat at Walshes Meadow. Richard Foley proved the main protagonist as his second innings 5-13 helped dismiss the visitors cheaply and move Stourport into fourth place.

Innings of the division must have come from Kidderminster's fourteen-year-old Elliot Small as he showed his dad how to play by notching a League career best 95 to help secure victory against Himbleton (for whom sixteen-year-old Tom Godwin had an excellent day taking 4-73 and scoring 82). This win moved Kidderminster to the top whilst Avoncroft moved in to second spot as David Apperley scored an undefeated 99 to help the east Worcestershire men to an impressive eight wicket home victory against Eastnor.

Bromyard are in fifth as they had to settle for a winning draw against Astwood Bank who finished well short of the first innings total, nine wickets down in the second innings thanks to 5-32 from Michael Reece.

Elsewhere, Ian Wingfield took 4-30 as Five Ways Old Edwardians beat Alvechurch by six wickets and the Bredon versus Bartestree match was abandoned without a ball bowled.

In Division Four 2nd XI an excellent second innings 94 from Sahab Gulfham ensured Claverley remain top as they chased down Hallow Taverners first innings 195 to win by five wickets.

Himley edged in to second by one point as Akil Kapasi scored an excellent second innings undefeated 103 to overcome Stourbridge whilst visitors West Malvern slipped to third as they had to settle for a winning draw at Romsley as the home side finished nine wickets down well adrift of the first innings total which leaves them in fourth.

In other matches played Tenbury Wells defeated Hanley Castle and Upton by nine wickets at the Glebe and Malvern beat bottom of the table Halesowen at Regency Road by five wickets.

The remaining match in the division, Martley versus Alveley was unfortunately lost to the weather

In Division 5 the games between leaders Harvington and Harborne and Redditch Entaco and Cutnall Green were abandoned due to heavy downpours.

This gave Old Hill and Barnt Green the opportunity to claw back points on the leaders which they took as Old Hill posted an excellent first innings 251 which was enough to take a maximum point winning draw against last week's second-placed Highley and a fine all-round performance by Aman Hussain (50 & 5-39) ensured Barnt Green gained a maximum points win at the Douglas Ground against visitors Droitwich Spa which now leaves the top four separated by just fourteen points.

In Division Six club stalwart Martin Downes took an excellent second innings 5-18 for Birlingham against visitors Worcester to seal the villager’s second successive maximum point win and remain top.

The all-round performance of the day however came from Stones Peter Harler as his 72 & 6-37 proved just enough to catapult them in to second place after beating Old Elizabethans by 13 runs.

In other matches Joe Slater's first innings 5-10 was enough to secure a six wicket victory for Oldswinford against Enville and Ombersley won by concession over Pershore.

In Division Seven Barnards Green and Hagley are joint top.

Ollie Davies (4-26) and Roger Thompson (4-36) shared eight first innings wickets for Barnards Green as they routed Old Elizabethans for 62 at Neel Park and despite Bilal Bashir taking 5-31 in the first innings for Worcester, Hagley’s bowlers fought back well in the second innings to dismiss the home team cheaply and gain victory by sixty runs.

Elsewhere, Netherton secured a winning draw against Droitwich Spa and Harborne won by concession against Bromyard.

In Division Eight (North) Five Ways Old Edwardians travelled to Himley and won by six wickets to go top, Redditch Entaco go second after they won by concession against Pedmore who are now bottom of the table, Jon Dean scored a fine undefeated 103 for short staffed Feckenham which was not enough to prevent Old Halesonians from securing victory as second innings half centuries from James Matthews (60*), James Stevenson (55*) and Steve Matthews (50) helped the visitors climb into third position and the Coombs Wood versus Enville match fell foul to the weather without a ball being bowled.

In Division Eight (South) both Rushwick and Worcester Nomads were forced to concede due to lack of numbers which gave Bredon and table toppers Evesham maximum point wins respectively.

In the matches that were played Bewdley and Belbroughton joined each other in second as they both gained victories. Belbroughton travelled the short distance to Chaddesley and dismissed their local rivals for a meagre first innings total of 89 which helped secure victory by seven wickets and Bewdley, thanks to Simon Cross (82) chased down Cookleys first innings 176-7 for whom Phil Dixon scored an undefeated 76.