A DEPLETED Warwick continued their unbeaten start in Warwickshire League Division Four with a hard-fought winning draw away at Aston Manor Seconds.
After losing the toss and put into bat on a used surface, Warwick got off to a poor start and found themselves 22-3 after the dismissals of Graeme Burke (9), Adrian Passey (4) and Richard Monk (0).
Youngster Umair Mushtaq was then caught at gully for five which brought captain Rajan Bhatti to the crease to accompany new signing Shubhayan Chandra.
A slight recovery was made with a partnership of 33 until two balls before drinks, Bhatti was run out for 23 to leave Warwick 66-5.
The positive Tazik Sharma came out to the middle and upped the scoring rate with his typical barrage of hard hitting.
However, Chandra was soon caught at mid-wicket for a patient 23 and then Warwick were right up against it when Adam Southorn was brilliantly caught for four and Joseph Evans fell for two which had Warwick at 107-8.
Seamer Richard Ingram then combined brilliantly with Tazik Sharma as he rotated the strike for the latter to accelerate the scoring.
Sharma fell for a brilliant 54 off 56 balls which included five fours and two sixes to end a 54 run partnership with Ingram.
Warwick’s innings came to a close in the 50th over for 178 after Ingram fell for 22 off 43 balls.
Ingram (1-26 off seven overs) continued his confidence with the bat by getting the early wicket of Bilal Amin for four and was well supported by Rajan Bhatti (1-20 off 11 overs) to build the pressure on Aston Manor’s top order.
The introduction of inform off-spinner Joseph Evans (4-47) brought about the second wicket.
Opening batsman Adeel Khan (64) threatened to take the game away from Warwick with a good partnership of 58 with captain Trent Turner (31 not out) but the game was turned on its head when leg spinner Anil Lohan came onto bowl.
The reliable Lohan bowled superbly to claim 1-13 from 12 overs, removing the prized wicket of Khan.
With the threat of losing the game, Aston Manor decided to shut up shop and finished their 50 overs on 138-8 and took nine points while Warwick took 16.
Warwick entertain Massey Ferguson on Saturday.
WARWICK Seconds overcame Berkswell Thirds to maintain their early season 100 per cent winning record in Division Eight East.
Skipper Michael Hope won the toss and chose to bat in favourable conditions at the Hampton Road ground and opener Jon Davis led from the front with an impressive undefeated knock.
Man-of-the-match Davis (78) was ably assisted initially by Hope (20), and then Reddy Konda (36) as they shared a crucial 83-run partnership in the middle overs of the innings.
Some brutal late order hitting from Vishal Sharma (34) put Warwick in a position to declare after 39 overs, having posted a total of 228-5.
Warwick’s bowlers then proceeded to do the business and Safiq Shaikh (1-19) in particular was unfortunate not to get more wickets with an accurate spell of seam and swing bowling.
Off-spinner Alex Wood (3-36) anchored the bowling and wickets fell at regular intervals as they were shared around between Thomas Hitchenor (2-25), Richard Rudnicki (2-22) and Sharma (1-9).
Berkswell were eventually bowled out for 127, with only Dominic Marks (50) providing any real resistance as Warwick ran out winners by 101 runs, gaining a maximum 24 points in the process.
Warwick face Stockingford on Saturday.
WARWICK Thirds enjoyed a comfortable six-wicket victory over Alvechurch & Hopwood Thirds in Division Five of the Cotswolds Hills League last Saturday.
Batting first A&H were dismissed for 111 after 32 overs with hard-hitting Syed Hussein top scoring with 30.
For Warwick the wicket-takers were Paul Coleman (4-25), Steve Webb (2-14), Ash Spall (2-20), Charlie Evans (1-6) and Yogesh Rajanandam (1-26).
Chasing the total Warwick’s opening batsmen Sanjiv Patel (42) and Owen Griffiths (28) put on 81 for the first wicket.
Danny Robbins (12no) and Jamie Harding (3no) ensured Warwick won with six wickets in hand.
Warwick take on rivals Leek Wootton on Saturday.
