Brewood’s winning draw in battle of title-chasers

And it was third-placed Brewood who came away with a winning draw, taking 16 points to Beacon’s eight.

Half-century knocks from Andrew Calvert (54) and Nikhil Vaidya (58) helped Brewood reach 221 all out from 50 overs.

Visitors Beacon got themselves in a strong position of 106-1 with Joshua Reeves (55) grabbing himself a half-century.

But an impressive bowling performance from Calvert, who finished with figures of 3-21, saw them restrict their rivals to 165 for seven wickets.

Arguably the performance of the day went to Pelsall’s Daniel Vernon, who scored a staggering 198 runs from 112 balls as his side secured a winning draw at Whittington.

Batting first, Pelsall went on to declare on 368-5 after 42 overs with Todd Henderson (86) also shining with the bat. In reply, Whittington matched Vernon’s total – finishing on 198-4 from 50 overs.

There was more excellent battling by Cannock as Adam Benton (103) and Jamie Bye (87) saw them secure a winning draw at Wolverhampton seconds.

The opening partnership of Benton and Bye saw Cannock reach 227-4 from 50 overs.

Bye then went on to impress with the ball taking figures of 4-38.

But tailenders Sameem Shirzay (one not out) and James Turner (0 not out) managed to cling on at the end to ensure their side finished on 214-9 from 50 overs – and in doing so earned their side six points. The result means Cannock leapfrog Wolverhampton seconds, who replace them in the drop zone.

Fordhouses are up to fourth in the table after they secured a home win over Milford Hall.

Batting first, Milford made 186 all out with 15 balls of their allocation remaining.

The visitors got off to a dreadful start with only Waqar Saleem (32) making a score of note as they slumped to 61-6.

Sam Beales and Aaron Afford pulled things around with an 88-run partnership – both batters making 50.

But they lacked the required support from those around them.

The total looked set to be enough as Fordhouses fell to 111-8.

But Zakariah Abbas produced a match-winning 60 not out to give the home side victory in the 51st over – with Fordhouses benefitting from Milford’s failure to use all of their 50 overs.

Tamworth remain 32 points clear at the top of the table after they won at Penkridge.

Brilliant bowling displays from Jason Jakeman 4-15 and Ed Smith 3-24 saw the hosts dismissed for 111 in just 36.4 overs.

And Tamworth went on to reach their target for the loss of just two wickets with Liam Brazier top scoring on 63.

Hammerwich faired even worse than Penkridge after they were bowled out at home for just 94 runs by Wombourne.

Oliver Siviter 7-42 shone with the ball as the hosts were toppled in 37.5 overs.

Openers Shakeel Richards (39) and Ben Hudson (40) then set Wombourne on the path to an eight-wicket victory.