by Matt Martin
BRIDGNORTH CC grabbed two vital wins and racked up 48 points over the Bank Holiday weekend to considerably strengthen their chances of Birmingham League survival.
They are almost certain to preserve their third division status, but the fight is far from over and another top-class performance is needed at struggling Oswestry tomorrow.
Bridgnorth 78 Wombourne 64
BRIDGNORTH travelled to Wombourne on Saturday to find a bowler friendly damp, green wicket which they had struggled to prepare due to the midweek rain. Captain Mark Macpherson–Lees lost yet another toss and Bridgnorth were unsurprisingly inserted to bat.
Bridgnorth’s batting faltered and a few poor shots coupled with good bowling in the very tough conditions meant that the away side scrambled to an eventual 78 with Paras Dogra top scoring with 16, and Gareth Mumford making 14. Bridgnorth went straight back out to field, and with the mentality of having everything to gain they attacked the Wombourne top order from the start.
Brilliant bowling from Tom Weaver (4-28) including three wickets in an over left Wombourne on 44-4 at tea.
Coming back out from tea some big shots from the Wombourne middle order looked to be taking the game away from Bridgnorth.
The intensity was then increased from all 11 players and some superb bowling from Andy Leather, finishing with 3-13 from 16 overs, coupled with A J Smith who finished off the innings with 2-17 and left Wombourne 64 all out.
This meant that Bridgnorth, showing all the character needed to avoid relegation, had pulled off an unexpected and somewhat miraculous 14 run victory.
Bridgnorth 166-8 Coleshill 158
Bridgnorth once again lost the toss and were inserted to bat on a bowler friendly wicket on Monday. The home side got off to a bad start, losing three early wickets but a good partnership between A J Smith and Pete Thompson gave Bridgnorth a platform to build from.
This allowed some late hitting from Sam Whitney with 21 not out meaning that the Cricket Meadow men had ended on a respectable but slightly below par total.
Unlike Saturday the seamers were unable to penetrate the Coleshill top order and the away side got off to a good start. However the spinners took their turn to take the wickets as Whitney completed a good day all round with 3-47 and Mark MacPherson-Lees quickly cleaned up the tail, taking 5-23.
Shrewsbury II 171-8 Bridgnorth II 99-7
AFTER winning the toss on a wet looking pitch and inserting Shrewsbury into bat in the difficult conditions Bridgnorth seconds were looking to make early inroads on Saturday. However they failed to do this, as the away side doggedly kept out an impressive opening spell by Nick Gray.
The home side did manage to keep the run rate down throughout the whole innings though, as Shrewsbury struggled on the slow damp pitch.
It looked as though the away side were going to make a substantial total, with only one wicket down in the 30th over, but with tight bowling, good ground fielding and excellent wicket keeping by the improving Rob Hughes Bridgnorth restricted the total to a respectable 171 -8. The leading wicket-takers were Ian Baldwin with a hard fought four, and the evergreen Steve Caine with three, again bowling with control and guile.
Bridgnorth’s reply got off to a flying start, as they raced to 30 off just five overs. However, a change in bowling resulted in four quick wickets going down, as the home side slumped to 36-5.
In a very tense atmosphere, amidst some top class bowling Matt Martin and Glenn Edwards battled hard in an attempt to rebuild the innings. However Martin was dismissed for an impressive 46 as his good form continued, leaving Edwards seemingly stranded as the weather began to change.
Edwards then battled hard and looked to be recovering some of his missing form as he made a vital 25 not out, just before the rain came. This meant that Bridgnorth finished on 99-7 and gained a winning draw as they were ahead of the run rate at that time.
