Birmingham League: Duo hit superb centuries but Shrewsbury can't force win
Openers Peter Clark and Rhodri Evans both struck superb centuries but Shrewsbury were forced to settle for a draw against Smethwick.
Clark smacked 147 from 143 balls, while Evans compiled a patient 100 to help the hosts reach 334-5 from their 55 overs at London Road.
It was a total which always looked beyond the visitors, particularly after a rain delay saw their innings reduced to just 30 overs.
But the lack of time also counted against the home side. While William Jenkins (4-30) and Dustin Melton (3-33) helped spark a collapse which saw Smethwick slump from 99-2 to 127-8, they ultimately ran out of overs to complete the win.
Shrewsbury still took 18 points from the match and sit sixth in Division One of the Birmingham League.
Worfield sit in the same place in Division Two after a thumping eight-wicket win at home to Old Hill.
Waqas Ahmed hit 62 to give the visitors, put into bat after losing the toss, a solid platform but the home bowlers stuck to their task and after Ahmed fell to make the score 133-4, wickets began to come regularly.
Rishin Patabedige was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with figures of 3-22 after taking two catches off his own deliveries.
Saad Naseem stood defiant for Old Hill, smacking an unbeaten 67 from just 54 balls but eventually he ran out of partners as the visiting team were dismissed for 202.
The chase threatened to be far from straightforward when Worfield lost openers Joe Wright (32) and Greg Wright (11) just a quarter of the way to the target.
But Patabedige completed a fine all-round performance, combining with Aman Hussain for an unbroken third wicket partnership of 149 to steer their side home with more than seven overs to spare. Hussain finished unbeaten on 76, with Patagbedige 72 not out.
Shifnal sit eighth in the table, now just 15 points clear of the bottom two, after they had to settle for a losing draw away to winless Kidderminster.
Daniel Lategan’s unbeaten 91 from just 84 balls, which included four sixes, helped the home side reach 241-5 from 55 overs. Charlie Home and Jack Shields took two wickets each for a Shifnal, for whom just three bowlers delivered all but six of the total overs.
The chase, already reduced by five overs in length after a rain delay, then got off to the worst possible start when opener Michael Robinson was out for a golden duck.
Robinson was one of three top order victims for seamer Ben Clements and Shifnal could not stem the flow of wickets. From 90-7, the innings became an exercise in damage limitation and it was wicketkeeper Ben Lees who led the rearguard action, finishing unbeaten on 48 from 115 balls as his team ended up on 142-8.
Shifnal took just five points from the fixture, with Kidderminster taking 16. Victory for Handsworth at Dorridge made things much tighter in the bottom half of the table.
