Shrewsbury announce top flight return with thumping win
Shrewsbury announced their return to the top flight of the Birmingham Premier League in style as they thrashed Knowle and Dorridge by 173 runs.
Openers George Hargrave and Peter Clark gave the home side the perfect start at London Road, putting on 154 for the opening wicket.
Hargrave made 91, while Clark hit 80 and when Will Parton came in and also struck a half century, it saw Shrewsbury reach 287-5 from 50 overs.
That always looked like being beyond the visitors once Finn Jones had sliced through the top order, taking three wickets in the opening five overs.
They never really recovered and skipper Oliver Currill (28) and Freddie Fowler (20) were the only batsmen to trouble the scorers on their way to 114 all out.
Shifnal endured last over agony as they were edged out at the death by Stourbridge in Division Two.
Shaun Lorimer took three wickets, while Cameron Jones and Jack Edwards chipped in with two apiece as the visitors made early inroads.
But from 140-7, late hitting from Dominic O’Reilly gave the Stourbridge innings fresh momentum and the hosts ended up posting 230. O’Reilly was the last man to depart, having hit 58 from 59 balls.
Those runs would prove crucial. Shifnal’s reply got off to a miserable start as Michael Robinson and Sam Scrimgeour departed having made just one run between them.
Rahul Kaushal and skipper Charlie Home both scored half centuries to steady the innings, before another twist as six wickets fell for just 45 runs to leave the visitors on 149-8 and staring defeat in the face.
But just like Stour’s innings, theirs would also find late momentum. Jack Twigger arrived with 82 needed to win and nearly pulled it off, cracking 64 from 50 balls, only to be left stranded at the other end when No.11 Ben Roberts was stumped from the fourth ball of the final over, with three runs still required.
Things were rather less dramatic at Worfield, where the home side went down by 65 runs to Tamworth.
Matthew Rees bowled impressively to take three wickets, while Tom Parker and Russ Aucott also took two each.
But Riley Ward’s 67 helped Tamworth reach 241-9 and that proved too tall an order for Worfield.
Aucott and fellow opener Aman Hussain made a solid start to the reply with a 49-run partnership but from there wickets fell at regular intervals as the home side were eventually bowled out for 176, losing by 65 runs.
