Brockhampton consolidate second spot with Olton win
4:13pm Thursday 24th July 2008
BROCKHAMPTON consolidated their second-place in Division 3 of the Birmingham and District Premier with a comprehensive seven-wicket win over their main rivals for the position, Olton and West Warwickshire, at The Parks.
They shot their rivals out for just 72 in 38 overs and then swept to victory inside 20 overs. The Herefordshire side now hold a 29-point cushion over Olton.
Olton made a ponderous start after Brockhampton won the toss and elected to bowl. Chris Boroughs made the breakthrough when the score was on five, and then Richard Parker took the next two wickets for the addition of two more runs, with opener James Neale facing 40 balls for his four runs.
Olton never recovered and when the score reached 41-6 Boroughs and Parker had shared the wickets.
Eventually Shaun Cartwright replaced Parker and, along with Boroughs, took the last four wickets for the addition of just 31 more runs. Boroughs finished with 4-23 off 19 overs including eight maidens while Parker and Cartwright finished with three wickets apiece.
Apart from one catch by Gethen Jacobs, the trio did not require the assistance of their fielders, the other nine wickets being bowled or leg-before.
Facing the modest target, Ashley Nahorniak (21) and Adam Hewlett took the score to 51 before the former was caught behind. Hewlett (32) fell 12 runs later, and was quickly followed by Boroughs, both victims of first-change bowler Jamie Hawkins.
Skipper Jonny Walker joined Henry Langford, and the pair scored the winning run in the 19th over.
Kington ended their losing run with an emphatic 172-run victory at Lichfield. They posted a total of 249-7 when they batted and then dismissed the home side for 77 inside 40 overs.
With the sides around them also winning, the result failed to lift Kington from their third-from-bottom place. What it has done, however, is to open a useful gap from the two sides below them, and also leaves them within five points of their opponents, who occupy sixth-place.
After losing an early wicket, Owen Morgan (54), Ben Stebbings (39) and Dave Exall (93) laid the foundations for the win. Ben George and Dharshana Gamage both chipped in with double-figure scores to set an imposing target for the home batsmen.
Gamage never allowed the Lichfield batsmen to settle, with only three of them reaching double figures. Along with Vinnie Kay (2-15 off 14 overs), he ended the match as a contest long before the final wicket fell to him in the 38th over.
The only batsmen to see off the pacemen was number five Stephens, who made 26 before falling to a catch by Kay off spinner Owen Price.
Gamage bowled 12.5 overs and took 7-40.