Shrewsbury back in frame

Knowle & Dorridge returned to winning ways but their lead at the top of the Premier Division was cut to 10 points following Shrewsbury’s three wicket win over local rivals Wellington.

A further five points behind are Kidderminster Victoria who eased past Barnt Green by six wickets. With two games to play, they lie in wait together withShrewsbury ready to pounce should K & D falter at either of the last two hurdles.

At the foot of the table, Moseley had the better of a draw with Walsall, while Kenilworth Wardens, almost, guaranteed their safety with a crushing defeat of Walmley who sink to the bottom four points adrift of Walsall who now trail, Moseley by 12 points.

Tom Fell (64) and Mike Smith (48) saw Wolverhampton to 208 for nine, as Will Mottram and Cobus Pienaar took three wickets each for K & D.

In reply, Attiq Chishti (51) and Pienaar (42) gave the home side the upper hand but it needed 36 from Alec Baker to see the Champions through. Dave Manning (3-47) and Alan Warner (3-65) were the most successful bowlers for Wolverhampton who are still not clear of relegation should either Walmley and Walsall stage a last ditch survival bid.

Mark Downes (37) top scored in Wellington’s 198 for nine but the star of the show was Shrewsbury’s Rob Foster with 6-44. Ed Foster (52) and Will Parton (48) gave the visitors a good start but Adam Byram (4-42) caused a few alarms before Shrewsbury clinched a vital victory.

Nathan Newport (56) and Dougie Brown (46) batted well but Kiddi’s Jonathan Wright stepped in with 6-47 to dismiss Barnt Green for 178. For the second time, this weekend, Craig Wood (78 not out) steered Kiddi to victory.

Himley moved further away from danger with a winning draw against Smethwick and both sides should now be confident that they will be playing Premier Division cricket again in 2011.

The ageless Harshad Patel (56) top scored as Himley made it to 221 for seven before Tejinder Pal Singh took 4-35 to restrict Smethwick to 158 for eight after Mo Sheikh (73) and Faisal Shahid (40) had given them a good start.

Calum Macleod (55 not out) boosted Moseley to a final score of 155 for nine at Gorway, after they had been 120 for eight with three overs remaining.

This was tough on Tom Freeman, who took 3-38 for Walsall, and the home side left it to their last wicket pair Andy Hawkins and Colin Griggs, to bat out the last six overs.
Hawkins was top scorer with an unbeaten 24, while the ever reliable Ashfaq Hussein picked up 3-23, as Walsall limped to 112 for nine.

Shitansu Kotak (3-11) and Jason Young (3-22) routed Walmley for 89 before Martin Donald’s 57 eased Wardens to a seven wicket victory that lifts them up to sixth place in the table.