Premier Division Round Up Week 11
Devatwal delivers as Wellington taste defeat for first time.
By Jamie Dowley
Wellington entered the post Dan Lloyd era and faced near neighbours Allscott Heath defending a near 3 year unbeaten record in the SCCL, but it was Callum Starlings side who produced one of the best results in their clubs history to record a famous six wicket victory. Batting first, home captain Dan Vaughan had a choice to make to replace his opening partner Lloyd and it was Will Lewin, celebrating a call up to play for Shropshire today who justified his captains faith by scoring a maiden century at this level. Lewin batted throughout for 128no and with some support from Vaughan (33) and smaller contributions from the middle order they were able to reach 223-6. Allscott kept things in check with Starling and Brad Thornton both bowling economically, the latter ending with 3-42 from 15 overs. Kuldeep Devatwal proved fairly expensive going for 83 off 12, but the Indian Pro knew that it was his batting that would make or break the run chase. After a steady start from Max Ferrington (27), Devatwal entered the stage and proceeded to produce an outstanding innings of 113no off 96 balls. With 92 runs coming in boundaries he paced the run chase superbly to see his side home with 3 overs remaining.
After the game I grabbed a word with both captains, with Callum Starling keen to keep it on the level.
“Its another win and more points towards reaching safety. We were happy with how it went in the field, Bradley bowled a superb spell to control it and we always felt it was achievable. Max laid a good foundation and then Ben (Harrington) supported Kuldeep well and we all know how good he is and he just motored on and saw us home. We are delighted”
Dan Vaughan “We posted a respectable total, it was slow deck. Will Lewin was outstanding but sadly for us Kuldeep played a very classy knock. Allscott are a spirited side whose overseas pro played a match defining knock that can happen” And on losing the 100% record “If you had said we would win 10 of the first 11 at the start then obviously we are taking that, we are 40 points clear and its been a very good half season”
The bottom two met at Cricket Meadow and it was visitors Madeley who gained a much needed win in “overtime” in a game that could have gone either way. Bridgnorth batted first and were indebted to Jed Schwarzbach, the young Aussie is having a decent season and here is unbeaten 92 was the main contribution in a total of 221ao in 43.1 overs. With Mithun Jaywickrema and Rodney Dunn both recording identical figures of 4-55 it all meant Madeley had 56 overs in which to chase down a win and they took it all the way down to the wire after half centuries from Mithun and captain Oli Davies. With Fazl Ur-Rahman (also 4-55!) chipping away at wickets it was down to veteran Steve Maden, playing as a specialist batsman at No.10 to gain the win in the 56th over with help from Dunn, as the Telford side recorded a badly needed victory to lift themselves out of the bottom 2.
Sentinel captain Ed Ashlin was a grateful man as his side wrapped up proceedings in good order at The Burway. The Shropshire Coach had a long trek to Newcastle for the county match today against Northumberland, and thanks to bowlers Harry Thomas and Cameron Watson he was able to get away early as his side dismissed the hosts Ludlow for just 95. It all looked so different at 52-0 after 5 overs but when Watson took the first wicket, Ashlin introduced the young seamer Thomas and in his first over he accounted for the heavyweight trio of Luke Miles (27), Jason Oakes and Deon Patel (both for 0). As more wickets fell, 52-0 became 54-6 and despite some late tail resistance, the two seamers were able to wrap up the innings for 95. Watson ending with 4-38 and Thomas a career best 6-22. Tom Griffiths anchored the reply with 45no and Ashlin was there at the end to see it home inside 20 overs for the loss of 3 wickets. Sentinel stay 3rd while Ludlow remain 2nd although the pack are starting to close.
Ed Ashlin “The early finish was certainly a bonus, and it’s a great result after a couple of tough weeks. Harry has a lot of talent so this type of performance isn’t unexpected, but I’m pleased it all came together for him, its well deserved and Cam supported him well“
It was Armed Forces Day at Whitchurch and the Veterans were treated to a convincing home win against a Quatt side who are struggling to show any sort of consistency at the moment. Much like proceedings at Ludlow, the first innings got off to a decent start and when drinks were taken at 17 overs, the visitors were 67-1 and seemingly in a strong position. It all unravelled with the introduction of Kash Hussain (3-12) and the medium pacer ripped through the middle order, clean bowling Stuart Walters, Chris Miller and Scott Furber. With the innings becoming somewhat becalmed, and Shabbir Khan (2-29) bowling with great control as usual, 67-1 became 83-9 as Dan Bowen brought himself back on and took 3 quick wickets also. Only a last wicket stand of 46 from Luke Daly and number 11 Dan Handley impressing with 25no meant that a total of 129 was something to bowl at but in truth it never looked like being enough on a flat wicket with good carry. Despite losing Mas Hasnain early, both Fahim (25) and Inam Ul-Haq (37no) were able to support star batsman Iftikhar Khan, who is playing at the top of his game right now. The right hander known as the Whitchurch Kohli treated the crowd to an array of sumptuous strokes as he carried his side to victory with 57no and a 8 wicket win.
Dan Bowen “I was never too worried even though the last wicket stand was rather frustrating as it was such a good track today we felt confident we could chase down most things. Iffy is batting superbly at present he’s so technically good that it was nice to watch and I’m sure the big crowd enjoyed it too. We are starting to play like we did last year, lets hope we can go on one of our runs”
St George’s were able to put the drama of their team coach failing to arrive for their trip to Mid Wales as they outplayed a Newtown side missing key men David Laird and Tom Anderson. Inserted in by home captain Ben Price who took the new ball himself. Ibrahim Java carried his bat throughout the innings for 121, while his opening partner Harjivan Dhinsay made an extended 34, and there were also scores from Sunny Singh (49) and Faizan Khan (39) as the Dragons reached an impressive 269-3 off their 50 overs. In truth that always looked to be plenty and with no home batsman able to make it to 20, Sunny Singh stook 3-26 and Jabbar Hussain 3-13 on debut to dismiss Newtown for 83.
Faisal Khan “After our coach let us down I am glad the boys fixed the mood! Jiva played a great knock and got good support and our bowling unit is firing with plenty of options. Next week (v Wellington) is a big challenge for us but we can’t wait”
Finally, Wem raced to a quick victory against a struggling Shelton who while welcoming back captain Simon Jones from injury, have lost overseas pro Yuv Sharma who has returned to India. The visitors batted first at Soulton Rd and while Viv John played a lone hand with an even 50, the rest of the batting struggled against the pace of Alex Ollerenshaw (4-40) ,in form Tyler Ibbotson (4-13), and Harry Astley who bowled a parsimonious spell of 1-15 off 9 overs. It all meant Wem were chasing a low score of 109, and this proved no trouble for Jim Astley’s side as they got home inside 14 overs for the loss of 2 wickets, Karabo Mogotsi with 50no and Steve Blenkinsop’s 26no seeing it through. Wem with their first outright win in the WDL format but for Shelton its 4 defeats in 5 and they are starting to get dragged into a relegation battle.
