Division One

Newly-arrived Barbadian paceman Jamar Ifill made an immediate impact on the Birmingham Premier League by bowling Moseley to a seven-wicket home win over Wolverhampton.

Few would have predicted that Usman Awan’s defending champions would wait until June 8^th for their first win of 2024, but when it finally arrived it was clinched in the most emphatic of styles.

Ifill removed the influential Techi Doria  and Ramanjot Jaswal early on then returned to mop up the tail and finish with the fine figures of five for 43 from 11.3 overs as Wolverhampton were bowled out for 141 in the 39^th over.

With openers Keith Barker (56 from 28 balls) and Asim Shoaib (52no) pressing the accelerator the hosts raced to 76 in just eight overs before eventually easing home in the 19^th over.

This result lifts Moseley above Wolverhampton at the foot of the table but winless West Bromwich Dartmouth are below both of them after hanging on for a losing draw against table-topping Smethwick.

Indian pro Deepak Khatri led the way with a sparkling 80-ball 108 and with Roshan Venkataraman, Bilal Shafayat, Kadeer Ali and Isaac Mohammed all passing 40 the 2022 league champions posted 323 for four.

Although Dartmouth’s chase never really got going, Smethwick’s eight-man attack were held at bay by a stubborn defensive effort from Yusuf Khalil who batted over two hours for an unbeaten 23 as his team closed on 151 for seven.

Knowle & Dorridge are seven points behind Rawait Khan’s league leaders after picking up nine points from a losing draw at mid-table Berkswell.

Warwickshire’s Amir Khan who made a fine 105 and Aussie import Bailey Capel (83) got the home side off to a strong start with an opening stand of 144.

Former Bedworth skipper Indy Nandra then claimed four wickets for K&D but was unable to prevent useful contributions through the card taking Berkswell to 333 all out.

Jamie Harrison responded with a breezy half-century from the top of the visitors’ batting line-up before Kamran Khanna worked his way through the middle-order to claim 6-55 from 17 excellent overs.

At 123 for eight with more than 20 overs remaining a home win was on the cards, however ninth-wicket pair Vidhan Iyer (67no) and Umar Shaikh (45no) had other ideas while adding the unbroken 118 that secured a share of the spoils.

Barnt Green moved into the top half of the table with a comfortable seven-wicket success at Barnards Green.

All five of the visitors’ bowlers claimed wickets as the Malvern-based hosts were bowled out for 181 of which Jakob Bhula top-scored with 37.

Worcestershire’s Henry Cullen (77) and his skipper Romi Brar (44no) then did the bulk of the work with the bat for the visitors who eased home in the 34^th over.

Himley were the top flight’s other winners after a captain’s innings from Ollie Westbury set up their 29-run success at Ombersley.

Westbury almost batted through his team’s innings to card an excellent 117 from 176 balls. He added 115 with opening partner Connor Smith (46) before Himley went on to post 227 for seven in their 55 overs.

Ollie Cox (84) responded in kind from the top of the Ombersley order and although Hasitha De Silva took 3-33, while Nathan Bowley (43) was helping Cox add 73 for the sixth wicket the home side were well in contention.

However, late wickets from Ollie Walker then halted their charge before former Northamptonshire spinner Graeme White clinched all 24 points for Himley by bowling Ishaan Arora four balls prior to stumps.

Halesowen’s Simon Gregory made a fluent 68 but his bowlers were then unable to prise out Kenilworth Wardens’ lower order who survived 61 overs to secure a losing draw at Seth Somers Park.

With Tommy Rex grabbing four wickets things looked bleak for the home side who were 111 for seven until their tail provided Gregory with enough support for them to pass 200 before being bowled out in the 49^th over.

The nine overs used up and 38 runs added by last pair Eddie Rhodes and Ciaran Baker-Smith were eventually to prove crucial as Wardens closed on 162 for nine within which Ali Zaryab top-scored with 41.

Division Two

Even at this early stage of the season Shrewsbury and Harborne form a breakaway group at the top of Division Two where 41 points separate them from third-placed Dorridge.

Both clubs have six wins from seven starts with the Salopians latest being a hard-earned three-wicket success over visiting Worfield.

Warwickshire’s Will Rhodes again caught the eye with the bat while making 88 from 123 balls for Worfield against a home attack that included his county colleague Liam Norwell.

Chasing 222 openers George Hargrave (30) and Will Parton (36) then got the hosts to 61 in the ninth over and although no-one made a big score the tempo never dropped as Shrewsbury clinched the spoils in the 47^th over.

By contrast, Harborne’s latest win eventually took the form of a comprehensive 139-run Tejas Wagle-inspired effort against Wellington.

At 56 for four with big guns Swapnil Gugale and Ben Shepperson back in their seats and Faheem Chohan returning figures of 3-27, Harborne initially seemed up against it.

However Wagle then made 100 from 117 balls and with Jimmy Clifford (72) and Michael Booth (40) providing good support the home side recovered to 300 all out.

Visiting skipper Dan Vaughan responded with an enterprising 77 but Gugale made up for his rare failure with the bat by taking 4-52 with his off-spin as Wellington were bowled out for 161 in the 35^th over.

This setback sees Vaughan’s newly-promoted side drop into the bottom two where they are 43 points clear of Bridgnorth whose seventh consecutive loss leaves them rooted to the foot of the table.

Old Hill were the latest side to inflict defeat on Matt Martin’s team when they left Cricket Meadow with an emphatic 141-run verdict.

Openers Waqas Ahmed (85) and Hasan Ahmed (81) added 177 for the Black Country outfit before skipper Bilal Hassan added a quickfire 43 which left Bridgnorth chasing 270.

Although Rahul Kaushal then made a half-century for the hosts, with Ryan Derrick and Aamir Manzoor sharing six wickets Old Hill claimed a maximum-point return in the 33^rd over when Bridgnorth were bowled out for 129.

The pacy Sameer Vohra grabbed five for 34 from 14 hostile overs to steer Coventry & North Warwickshire to an 85-run home win over Dorridge.

Imaad Mohammed was stranded with an unbeaten 59 for the visitors who were bowled out for 147 as Vohra ripped through their lower order.

CNW had earlier posted 232 for nine on the back of another useful contribution from Indian pro Jay Bista (79) while Akshay Patel made 59.

Only two points separate fifth-placed Coventry from Dorridge while Shifnal sit between them in fourth after taking 18 points from their draw at Kidderminster.

Shifnal’s openers Michael Robinson (85) and Andre Bradford (54) took the visitors to 133 before useful contributions from Ethan Jamieson, Ben Lees and Charlie Home (pictured above) left the Carpet Men chasing 276.

Jamieson then claimed four for 42 and despite Amaan Hassan making 54 Kiddy required last pair Dylan Griffiths and Brad Jefferies to survive 43 balls in order to stave off defeat.

Leamington were forced to settle for 16 points from a winning draw at Tamworth despite the best efforts of Zayn Hussain who took four for 45 from 17 tidy overs.

The home side’s top-scorers Scott Daly (43) and Suraj Chauhan (47) both fell to Hussain and as a result Tamworth’s quest for 227 petered out at 175 for eight.

West Indian test star Shane Dowrich earlier made 50 for Leamington but it was the acceleration provided by George Maddy’s unbeaten 93-ball 71 that put Spa in a strong position.