Furrows league debutants start with wins
Three of the teams making their debuts in the Furrows East Shropshire Mid-Week League recorded victories in the opening round of fixtures.
And there were some impressive individual performances with two bowlers claiming five wicket hauls.
Allscott Heath, Broseley and Codsall all won their opening games in the league which has now been expanded to feature 12 teams in two divisions.
In Division One, Allscott Heath hosted Forton who batted first and finished their 20 overs on 144-5 with Yuvraj Gill hitting 38 and Ben Yates-Ward 28.
Jason Summers claimed the bowling honours with figures of 2-13 from his three overs.
Luke Thornton led the way in the reply with 45 as Allscott claimed the win with nine balls to spare, Rich Benting chipping in with 22 and Matthew Hutchings 26.
In Division Two, after losing a couple of early wickets, Broseley rallied to finish their innings on 158-3 when they travelled to Albrighton with keeper Dan Handley hitting an unbeaten 51 and Alfie Oakes 35.
In the reply, skipper Sam Wood hit 20 and Chris Morris 28, but Albrighton fell 17 runs short of their target on 141-8 with Sam Murdoch claiming 3-11 from his two overs.
Codsall claimed victory when they travelled to another one of the new teams in the League in 2026 – Wheaton Aston.
Batting first, they racked up 201-9 with Karandeep Singh Aulakh hitting 39 off just 14 balls, Mathieu Wilkes-Cook 39 and Monti Kunner 29.
Andy Nichol claimed 3-23, Joe Mason 2-22 and Arun Karup claimed two wickets as Wheaton Aston hit back after Codsall’s fast start.
Nichol then led the way in the reply with 22, but a devastating spell from Naveed Khan who claimed 5-10 meant Wheaton Aston were dismissed for 92. Monti Kunner chipped in with 2-6.
The other game in Division Two saw Newport get the better of neighbours Lilleshall in a game which saw another five-wicket haul claimed
Batting first, Lilleshall were restricted to 110-7 from 18 overs with Kenny Fudge hitting 23 and Steve Boney unbeaten on 23.
Pankaj Shah took the bowling honours with a brilliant 5-10 from his three overs.
In the reply, Matthew Round hit 20, Kyle Hodson 26 and William Hodge was unbeaten on 28 as Newport claimed the victory in the 16th over.
The other game in Division One between defending champions St Georges and Harpers will be rearranged after bad light prevented the initial clash from being played to a conclusion
A strong batting performance saw St Georges hit 206-5 from their 20 overs. Nazir Mooman and Jagdeep Singh both hit unbeaten half centuries before they retired while Vasanth Godavarthi hit a rapid 48 not out at the end of the innings.
Yaswanth Avula and Naga Ramu Gottam both claimed two wickets.
In the reply, Ravi Duddala hit 22, as Harpers reached 86-6 after 13 overs with Shahnawaz Ahmad claiming 2-15 before the game was abandoned due to bad light.
The game between Priorslee and Church Eaton has also been put back until later in the season.
