Audley won their home fixture against Longton by 2 wickets.
Longton batted first and made 126 all out; no batter could get going in the Longton innings as the Audley bowlers bowled with accuracy and control.
Opener Jacques Snyman made 26, which included 5 fours, before he was caught and bowled by Ali Hamza Waseem. Dane Tinsley added 24, and Tom Hope 26, but Longton collapsed from 84/3. Ed Jones took an impressive 4/15, well backed up by Waseem, who took 3/9, as Audley strangled the Longton innings.
Audley’s innings got off to the worst possible start when Oliver Wilde was bowled for a 2nd ball duck by Brodie Mack. Freddie Doorbar quickly followed as Audley were reduced to 8/2. Ali Hamza Waseem was then joined by Jack Redman; they added 39 before Redman departed. Matheesha Perera then ripped the heart out of the Audley middle order. He first had Ash Rogers out for a duck on his Premier League debut, he then bowled skipper Rob Hemmings for a second-ball duck, and he then had Ed Jones LBW as Audley slumped to 63/6.
Waseem then took centre stage, striking a composed 87 not out off 121 balls, guiding Audley to victory with 22 balls to spare. This match could have gone either way, but the class of Waseem made sure that it went Audley’s way.
Hem Heath defeated champions Stone by 36 runs.
Hem Heath batted first and piled up a commanding 273/4 from their 45 overs. Liam Banks struck a sparkling 152 from only 132 balls; the former Warwickshire batter struck 16 fours and 8 sixes in his innings. He shared partnerships of 89 with Greg Prime, who made 27, and 93 with Callum Leese, who made a run-a-ball 39, to set Stone a very difficult target.
Stone’s chase never really got going. Sam Graham and Jack Harvey got starts, but when they were dismissed, Stone were 55/3. Left-hander Warrick Fynn made 57 from 78 balls as Stone fell further behind the rate. Ed Batchelor added an aggressive 62 from only 32, which included 4 fours and 5 sixes as he tried to get Stone back into the game, but when he was dismissed, Stone were eventually bowled all out for 237. Ben Topley took 4/27, and Prime cleaned up the tail to finish with 4/38. All in all, it was a comfortable victory for Hem Heath after Banks’ fine innings.
Moddershall defeated Whitmore by 7 wickets on the visitors’ return to the Premier League.
Whitmore won the toss and batted first but could only make 156/9 from their allocation of 45 overs. Danyal Hussain made 50 from 80 balls at the top of the order, but he didn’t receive enough support from the top order. Ryan Roberts made 37, coming in at number 6, but the Moddershall bowling was tight and economical, and the Whitmore batters just couldn’t get going. Aizaz Ahmed was the pick of the Moddershall bowlers, finishing with 3/26 from 7 overs.
Moddershall lost Staffordshire batsman Sam Kelsall for a duck early in the chase but didn’t have any further issues in their innings as they cruised to victory with 6.1 overs remaining. Opener Muaaz Ahmed made 64 from 86 balls, Joe Hawkins made 48 to put the result to bed before he was dismissed.
A comfortable victory for the home side and a Premier League wake for the visitors as they’ll look to bounce back next week.
Eccleshall marked their return to the Premier League with an 11-run victory at Newcastle and Hartshill.
Eccleshall were asked to bat first and made a respectable 190/7 from their 45 overs. They were indebted to Murvin Abinashv, who made 72 from 100 balls after they had been reduced to 58/4. Jack Knapper added a run a ball 35 as Eccleshall made their way to a competitive total. The impressive Joe Thorne captured 3/24 from his 9 overs.
Castles’ chase began poorly as they were reduced to 30/3, then 40/4 as they couldn’t get a foothold in the chase. Dushan Vimukthi then made 50 from 83 balls as he looked to get them back into the game, but he was run out by Myles Coughlan to leave Castle 144/6 with 8 overs remaining. Guy Bridgett made an unbeaten 34, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to get Castle over the line. Eranga Dissanagge was the pick of the Eccleshall bowlers with figures of 3/27 from his 9 overs.
Meakins defeated Porthill by 3 wickets on their trip to the old county ground.
Porthill won the toss and chose to bat, but were soon in trouble at 16/3 as Karl High took 2 early wickets. Lakshitha Manasinghe then rescued the Porthill innings with a splendid 100 made off 112 balls and containing 9 fours and 3 sixes; he was well supported by Oliver Shirley, who made 64 from 80 balls as they rebuilt the Porthill innings. The pair added 129 for the 5 wicket as the Meakins bowlers toiled away, Porthill eventually closed on 212/6 from their 45 overs. Ash Shaw began the pick of the Meakins bowlers with 3/41 from his 9 overs.
Meakins lost Shaw and Tucker early as the slumped to 28/2 before Sam Moores and Callum Wilshaw added another 37 before Moores was dismissed. Wilshaw then added 59 with Jalat Khan before he was dismissed for a well-made 47 as Meakins started to get a foothold in the chase. Khan made 34 at a run a ball, Pete Wilshaw then added a run a ball 36, but when he was dismissed, they were 187/7, still 26 away from victory. Captain Jack Hammond and Karl High then took Meakins to a well-deserved victory with 8 balls to spare. Hammond finishing 20 not out. Porthill could be left to rue the 12 wides they bowled throughout the innings.
