Warwickshire & West Midlands Sport

Cherry is the pick as H&S triumph

IAN Cherry hit a half century on Saturday to help Hampton and Solihull overcome Weoley Hill and the inclement weather to move to the top of Warwickshire League Division three.
With the match reduced to 25 overs a side by the rain, Weoley Hill won the toss and opted to field.
H&S made a steady start as skipper Mike Palmer (28) and Cherry (50) put on 58 for the first wicket in 14 overs.
With just 11 overs remaining and nine wickets in hand, the H&S batsmen had license to play some shots and led by Cherry and Steve Juckes (24no), posted a competitive score of 123-8 off their 25 overs. Ed McCabe picked up 3-33 off eight overs for the visitors.
Weoley Hill’s reply began disastrously as Palmer (3-14) and Saikat Bose (2-13) picked up five wickets in the opening six overs to reduce the score to 18-5.
The introduction of spin into the attack brought further wickets as Tim Keyte (3-14) and Jim Harris (2-5) picked up the remaining five wickets to leave Weoley Hill bowled out for just 48 inside 19 overs. Lee Garghan was the only Weoley Hill batsman to reach double figures with an unbeaten 16.
A delighted Palmer said afterwards: “Today was a great performance against a side we expected to give us a tough test. Credit to Weoley Hill for wanting to play the match after the rain we had. Once we were underway Ian and Steve played good knocks to set up a useful total, but what really pleased me was the intensity in the field. We’ll look to continue that next week away at Nether Whitacre.”
Sunday saw H&S again field 1st and 2nd XIs, away at Pickwick in Arden Sunday League Division Two, and in a friendly at home to Moseley Ashfield respectively.
At Pickwick, skipper Tim Keyte won the toss and opted to bat. Despite the early loss of Ismail, the visitors made steady progress with Ian Cherry (34) and Mushtaq Hussain (22) laying the foundations for the innings, taking the score to 84-3 with 25 overs gone.
However, despite 21 from Sarmad Ahmed and 18 from Matt Allen, the rest of the order crumbled under pressure from some tight bowling from Pickwick, leaving H&S eventually all out for 125 in the last of their 40 overs.
In reply, Pickwick found the going much easier, and despite the best efforts of Sri Gadapatti 2-19, H&S could not find another breakthrough. Pickwick made it home with seven overs to spare and eight wickets in hand.
A disconsolate Keyte said: “For the second week in a row we were the architects of our own downfall with a poor batting performance when faced with a modicum of pressure. With only 125 on the board we were always going to struggle to build any pressure with the ball. I expect a marked improvement with the bat next week against Coleshill.”
The Sunday 2nds meanwhile were faring much better against Moseley Ashfield, racking up an impressive victory.
Home skipper Paul Goldingay won the toss and opted to bat, a decision which was proved sound courtesy of fine innings from Andy Wing (92) and Chris Trinder (69).
H&S posted an imposing 242-6 off their 40 overs, a total which was never under serious threat as Moseley Ashfield struggled against some tight bowling from Kane Platt, Furqan Amjad and Goldingay as H&S cruised to a comfortable victory.
Goldingay said: “Today was a great performance from the boys. Andy and Chris gave us a great start and we carried it on with the ball. It’s good to see some of the younger lads developing their game in these friendlies; it bodes very well for the future of the club.”

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