Express & Star

Champions Halesowen celebrate with big win

Halesowen celebrated their Birmingham League premier division two title with a resounding victory over Oswestry.

Published

After securing promotion back to the top flight for the first time in 16 years with last week's win, they followed that up by becoming champions on Saturday – and quickly dispatched Oswestry in the process.

The Shropshire side opted to bat first but struggled to handle the hosts the reduced them to limited runs.

Eddie Rhodes took out their first two batsmen with only one run scored between them, before Nick Payne, Harry Kitchen and James Rudge mad easy work of their opponents.

Oswestry only managed 70 runs, with Matthew Davies (21) their highest scorer.

Jamie Harrison and Jamie Harris then stepped up for Halesowen and in just 35 balls between them they got 74 runs, giving their side a win by 10 wickets.

Elsewhere in the league, Himley continued their fight for promotion with a hard-fought win over Pelsall.

The latter started brightly as Jujhar Johal got a superb 109 runs before eventually being run out by Jamie Turner.

Sam Butcher and Sadrian Ward picked up 34 and 31 runs respectively to keep Pelsall ticking over, but they eventually fizzled out and finished on 235-6.

Himley's consistent batting, which began with Oliver Westbury's 44 runs, is what earned them the win by two wickets.

A half century from Daniel Durman was the highlight, alongside Saul Anstey's 47.

A superb showing from Will Nield ensured Wolverhampton picked up a surprise win over Wem.

Ramanjot Jaswal began the innings well for the hosts, with 56 runs, before some consistent batting kept Wolverhampton on top.

Nield then knocked for 92 from just 87 balls, while a late score of 25 runs from Joe Stanley gave the hosts some breathing room as they finished on 240-8.

Wem stepped up and watched Harry Chandler fall first, with no runs scored, as Wolverhampton's aggressive bowling proved affective.

Matthew Cohen notched 31 in Wem's best showing as they ended all out for 148, giving Wolverhampton the win by 92 runs.

Meanwhile, in premier division one some impressive batting from Kidderminster handed them a win over Smethwick.

Aman Hussain's 59 runs was the highlight for Smethwick who ended all out for 190, before the hosts took over.

Sam Beadsworth's steady 20 runs opened the scoring before Vikai Dass and Callum Bennett scored 69 and 78 runs respectively to secure Kidderminster the win by eight wickets.

West Bromwich Dartmouth were on the wrong end of a defeat in their clash with Knowle & Dorridge, as they lost by six wickets.

Shahzeb Raja's half century ended as their top scorer, but the hosts eased to victory with 102-4.

Walsall also suffered defeat at the hands of Leamington.

The visitors batted first and notched 293-5, which included a magnificent 131 runs from Harrison Smith and a half century from Jonathan Wigley.

That score was too much for Walsall to catch as they finished all out for 157, losing by 136 runs. Daniel Betty's 49 runs was their highest score.