LEAMINGTON made it two wins from as many Birmingham League Division Two matches as they secured a seven-wicket victory at Penkridge on Saturday.
Penkridge won the toss and elected to bat first, which seemed an odd choice given the moisture in the wicket, and Leamington got off to the best possible start as Tom Warner (2-22) removed both openers, LBW, to leave the home side 13-2.
The Spa team showed an improvement on the previous week as all the bowlers bowled with excellent discipline and made life very hard for the home side.
Wickets continued to fall for Penkridge as the wickets were shared around for Grant Thornton (3-25), Mark Ashcroft (2-47) and a wicket apiece for Shahbaz Alam, Faisal Khalid and Nabeel Ashgar.
The home side were eventually all out for 135 thanks to some lower order hitting from Simon Parnaby, top scoring with 26.
In reply, Leamington lost Shahbaz Alam, Mark Lewis and Jonathan Wigley as the game was finely balanced with the away side slipping to 46-3.
However, David Bailey and Mark Ashcroft made sure there were no more slip-ups as the pair combined aggressive strokeplay with resolute defence in an unbeaten fourth wicket partnership of 93 to secure victory for their team.
Bailey ended on 65 not out (11 fours and one six), while Ashcroft, 19 not out, helped take the game away from the home side.
Leamington travel to Halesowen on Saturday and will hope to keep their place at the top of the table.
T20 Cup exit
LEAMINGTON bowed out of the ECB T20 Cup with a comprehensive defeat by ‘hit and giggle’ specialists Tamworth.
The match was played in front of a good sized crowd enjoying the fine weather but was not much of a contest as Tamworth went off at a fast pace, notching almost ten an over through captain Talbot (62) and Burrows who made an unbeaten 79.
The brakes were applied later in the innings by Faisal Khalid and veteran Neil Smith who both took two wickets with reasonable economy as Tamworth ended on a daunting 176-5.
Leamington lost two wickets in the first over, both adjudged leg before, before Shabaaz Alam and David Bailey made some ground.
Alam made 35 and Bailey 25, but neither could quite break free from Tamworth’s tight grip. A few lusty blows saw Leamington reach 132 all out, giving Tamworth a deserved win. Talbot took three wickets to complete a fine match.
