The opening day of the 2015 Birmingham & District Premier Cricket League programme saw some heavy run-scoring in all but one of the Premier Division matches.
There were encouraging victories for Barnt Green, Kidderminster Victoria, Knowle & Dorridge, Berkswell, Walmley and Shrewsbury, who defeated 2014 Champions West Bromwich Dartmouth by 22 runs.
Ed Barnard (43) top scored in a Shrewsbury total of 230 with Aqsad Ali taking 3-32 for Dartmouth who were dismissed for 208, despite 55 from Basit Zaman. Barnard (3-52) and Sam Griffiths (3-33) were the pick of the bowlers for Shrewsbury. A superb 141 from Dom Harding, ably supported by Alex Phillips (69) and Alex Keath (61) eased Knowle & Dorridge to a daunting 345 for five against Wolverhampton who fell well short on 191 all out.
New Overseas Player Matthew Kleinveldt hit 88 while Will Mottram took 3-43 for K & D. The match between Barnt Green and Kenilworth Wardens was also a high scoring affair with the home side cruising past Wardens total for 281 for nine with six wickets in hand and 20 balls to spare. Sitanshu Kotak began his 20th season as Wardens’ Overseas Player with 109 and Keith Bell added 66 but much credit went to 18 years old Matt Lamb who cracked an unbeaten 108 for Barnt Green after Sam Cheshire had opened up with 43.
Newcomers Ombersley kicked off in the Premier Division with a 58 run defeat against Berkswell. Mark Best struck 101 and Chris Whittock hit 40 for Berkswell while Liam Gwynne scored 78 in Ombersley’s forlorn pursuit. Ombersley’s Arti Fiaz and Matt Rawnsley and Berkswell’s Dan Worrall took three wickets apiece to share the bowling honours.
Another century maker was Brockhampton’s Joe Crichard (101 not out) but his efforts were in vain as Kidderminster Victoria took 20 points from a five wicket win in Herefordshire after, successfully chasing down a target of 238 for six.
Nathan Round (82 not out) and Matt Pardoe (73) lead the chase as Kidderminster cruised home with eight overs to spare. The sixth winners of the day were Walmley who easily defeated Dorridge by six wickets after the visitors were dismissed for a paltry 136. Ali Ebad hit 41 in Dorridge’s struggle to set a challenging target but 62 from Tom Burton saw Walmley to success in the 21st over of their reply.