Last ball thriller to launch new Furrows Evening League
There was a final ball thriller in the game between Wrekin College and Lilleshall as the new Furrows East Shropshire Mid-Week League kicked off with its opening fixtures.
Lilleshall batted first when they made the short trip to Wrekin College and got off to a fast start thanks to Rob Bagshaw’s 52 off 39 balls.
Edwin Wagstaff chipped in with 23 off 17 and Oli Todd hit an unbeaten 28 as they finished their 20 overs on 156-6.
Jacob Turner was the pick of the bowlers for Wrekin, claiming 3-34 off his four overs.
He then combined with wicket-keeper Sam Good in a 95-run opening partnership to get the Wrekin reply off to a great start.
But Good’s dismissal for 43 then sparked a middle order collapse as Lilleshall picked up another five wickets with Mark Binfield claiming 2-18 and young spinner Stan Askin 3-27 as they were reduced to 138-6 with Turner falling for 45.
Ollie Mee (16 off 13) and Will Honicke then held their nerve to see Wrekin to a four-wicket victory off the final ball of the innings with Honicke hitting the winning boundary as they finished on 157-6.
Albrighton made the short trip across the county boundary to take on Church Eaton Knights and batted first. Opener Chris Morris hit 34 off 27 balls and Robert Perry chipped in with 27 down the order as they finished their overs on 134-7.
The Knights lost a couple of early wickets but Douglas Hughes blasted 51 off 27 balls before he retired to give the hosts the initiative, and they claimed victory by seven wickets.
Skipper Mayhew was the pick of the bowlers with 2-30 while George Maundrell picked up the other wicket to fall.
Another derby saw Forton make the short trip to Audley Avenue to take on Newport. Batting first, Edwin Toreveyi led the way at the top of the order with 35 off 24 balls.
But when he was bowled by Baadal Parag as the first of three victims on his way to impressive figures of 3-6 from three overs, the rest of the batting line up failed to fire and they were restricted to 96-8 from their 20 overs.
Nadeem Chohan also chipped in with 2-16.
But Newport also found batting tricky as Lewis Teale ripped out the top order claiming 4-18 from his four overs to leave the hosts on the back foot at 22-4.
William Hogg then hit an unbeaten 36 with support from Sam Davies’ 19 before he was run out meant the home side claimed the victory in the 15th over.
The other game saw the two St Georges teams in the competition meet at Church Road – with the A team coming out on top.
The Dragons’ B team batted first and made 139-6 from their 20 overs with opener Hizbullah Orakhil leading the way with 41. Raja Janga was the pick of the A team attack claiming 3-19 from his four overs.
The A team reached their victory target after 17 overs for the loss of two wickets with contributions from all the batters. Ravi Duddala retired after he reached 39, fellow opener Krishna Bammidi made 25, Bharath Bangaru 20 and Madhu Jallipalli was unbeaten on 27. Haider Raza claimed both wickets to fall.
Cricket Shropshire Lead Officer Steve Reese said: “After months of planning and input from all the clubs involved, it’s great to see the new mid-week league get started with some cracking games being played.
“Hopefully we can see the league go from strength to strength over the weeks as it becomes a permanent fixture in club calendars.
“Thanks once again to sponsors Furrows for their support which has helped us set up this league to serve the East of the county.”
Pictures used here are from the games between Newport and Forton and Church Eaton and Albrighton.
