Rain restricts K & D jamboree
Tim Gruijters tries his best for Walmley
Knowle & Dorridge travelled the short distance to Moseley but were unable to take to the field due to two heavy showers which rendered the match the only one in the League where there was no play.
Shrewsbury’s victory against Walmley saw them make ground on the Premier Division leaders but the gap remains a daunting 30 points with Kidderminster Victoria a point further behind following their three wicket success against Wellington.
The situation at the bottom of the table remains tight with 24 points separating seventh placed Kenilworth Wardens and Walsall who remain anchored to the foot of the table after a losing draw against Wolverhampton.
Tom Cox (65 not out) and Ed Foster (40) saw Shrewsbury to 207 for seven declared in 41 overs against Walmley, who were dismissed for 176 all out in reply.
Acting skipper Chris Booth hit 46, Tim Gruijters, the 18 year-old Nederlands player made 38 and James Burnett added 29 to the 3-50 he took in the Shrewsbury innings but the fit-again Michael Barnard snapped up 5-41 and Elliot Green took 3-34 to consign Walmley to the relegation zone.
Himley climbed out of the bottom two with a winning draw at Barnt Green, recovering from 34 for three, to 190 all out, thanks to 72 from Chris Tranter and 33 from Greg Wright, who added 72 for the fifth wicket.
Stephen Bevan took 4-33 but Barnt Green slipped to 32 for four in response, before Carl Crowe (38) and Keiron Rees (32) staged a recovery.
Stuart Wedge stepped in to take 4-38 as Barnt Green finished on 127 for seven.
Smethwick came away from Kenilworth Wardens with an easy eight wicket win after Mohammed Akram (4-19) and Mohammed Sheikh (3-11) reduced the home side to 71 all out, which moved them up to fourth place at the expense of Wardens who drop into the bottom half.
Steve Lamb hit 96 and Wendell Wagner scored 43 in Wellington’s total of 209 for eight at Chester Road but James Ralph proved to be the match winner for Kidderminster, taking 4-34 and scoring 61 as his side romped home by seven wickets.
Andy Kimberlin also batted well for the home side, chipping in with 57.
A stand of 109 for the fifth wicket between Brad Wilson (74) and Paul Wicker (46) helped Walsall recover from 19 for four, and no less important was an unbroken stand of 33 for the last wicket between Colin Griggs and Tom Freeman, as the Gorway side reached 202 for nine at the end of 55 overs.
In a rain affected match, Wolverhampton required 148 from 40 overs for a winning draw and that’s how they finished, for the loss of six wickets with Ryan Canning unbeaten on 83.
