CRICKET - Bedworth claim five-wicket win against Solihull Municipal - The Coventry Observer

CRICKET - Bedworth claim five-wicket win against Solihull Municipal

Coventry Editorial 13th Jun, 2022   0

KYLE TAYLOR’s excellent 85 plus a fine all-round display from skipper Abdul Hafeez who took three wickets and made a half-century steered Bedworth to a five-wicket Warwickshire Premier League round nine win at Solihull Municipal, writes Paul Smith.

Despite being without Ryan Parnell and Indy Nandra, the visitors’ top-order timed their run chase to perfection and with the help of some late impetus provided by Juggy Nandra they passed Muni’s 216 for nine with eight deliveries remaining.

Bedworth’s bowlers had earlier reduced their hosts to 63 for five before Alex Roslyn marshalled their lower-order to good effect while compiling an unbeaten 91-ball 96.

This fifth win of the campaign leaves Hafeez’s team in seventh position in the table but only nine points behind third-placed Stratford ahead of next week’s trip to high-flying Sutton Coldfield.




“It was a very good win, I’m delighted,” Hafeez said.

“We bowled very well in the early stages and in truth we were a bit disappointed that Municipal got to 216 after being 60-odd for five.


“James Roslyn showed all his experience and cashed in against the older ball in the closing overs and we knew not losing too many early wickets would also be the key to our chase.

“It wasn’t an easy pitch to bat on and Kyle played a superb knock. He had two good partnerships – with myself then with Juggy – who also did very well when the pressure was on.

“We managed to find boundaries when we needed them to keep the asking rate below six per over and eventually won with eight balls remaining.”

Bedworth’s seamers justified their captain’s decision to field first with a controlled opening session during which they reduced Muni to 63 for five with some accurate bowling.

Fizz Abdullah struck twice in the early stages to remove James Roslyn and Danyal Mehmood in a fine eight-over spell while the always-consistent Waqar Dad removed Nathan Boyce.

Veteran Giles Clements grafted to a 62-ball 23 in the company of Jonathan Stanley, but when the fourth-wicket pair fell in quick succession to Nandra (2-42) the home side were up against it.

However, this brought Alex Roslyn and Mike Rowley to the crease and Muni’s sixth-wicket pair proceeded to turn things round in a patient stand worth 94.

When Rowley eventually became Hafeez’s first victim for a 64-ball 30, Roslyn pressed the accelerator to good effect in the company of the lower order.

He struck three sixes and seven fours in his excellent knock while Hafeez – who claimed 3-36 – and Ash Cutts (1-41) took wickets at regular intervals at the other end.

This left the visitors chasing 216 and after the early losses of the in-form Max Page and Finn Haynes they were soon 37 for two.

However, the experienced Hafeez, who made a 92-ball 53 including nine boundaries, then joined forces with wicket-keeper Taylor in a third-wicket alliance worth 74.

Although Bedworth’s skipper and Jamie Parnell fell in quick succession, Nandra went on to build a match-clinching 79-run partnership with Taylor who was dismissed shortly before the finishing line was reached for a 95-ball 85.

He found the boundary rope 11 times and cleared it once during his fine knock while Nandra’s aggressive unbeaten 31 contained four fours before Abdullah closed things out by striking his second and third balls for a six and a four.

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