BARNARDS Green narrowly missed out on silverware as they finished as runners-up at the ECB T20 West Midlands Area Final.
After progressing through the semi-final stage with a 47-run victory over North Staffordshire & Cheshire League outfit Checkley, Green slumped to a 53-run defeat at the hands of Cheshire County League side Bramhall.
Bramhall won the toss and opted to bat but got off to a slow start as they quick found themselves at 15-4.
Skipper Nick Cantello (18) pushed the score along with Adam Wilde (11) before Green struck again with Bramhall sitting on 60-7.
Christopher Sanders (21) and Sam Johnson (31 no) added useful contributions as Bramhall eventually reached 125-9 from their 20 overs.
However, Green were left wanting with the bat in their response as Dannie Rees (15) and Patrick Brown (23) were the only players to reach double figures as the Birmingham and District League representatives were bowled out for 72 in the 18th over.
Their tournament heartache came after slumping to a fifth straight league defeat at Moseley thanks to five wickets from Jugdip Nandra.
Moseley chose to field after winning the toss and it proved to be an inspired decision as Nandra (5-23) and Ali Awan (4-34) stole the show with the pair skittling Green out for just 123 in the 46th over.
Green’s openers Will Dovey (36) and Josh Haynes (37) put on a 74-run stand for the first wicket before the total collapse of their lower order.
In response, it took just 24.2 overs for Moseley to secure victory as they reached 126-3 thanks to Jack Harper’s unbeaten 48 and 45 from opener Robert Yates.
COLWALL’s hopes of maintaining a promotion charge took another major dent as they slumped to a third straight defeat in Division One at the hands of Worcester in the final over.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Colwall were bowled out for 230 in the 48th over with Ben Cooke (86), Tom Coleman (59) and Sam Crichard (40) getting the majority of the Stowe Lane-based outfit’s runs.
Fabian Allen (4-22) and Chris Steele (3-40) grabbed the lion’s share of the wickets.
Worcester’s response was far from emphatic as they slumped to 106-6.
However, an unbeaten 51 from Harry Clarke and 43 from Dan Keyte pushed the score along before Joshua Faulkner (10) hit the winning runs with five balls to spare as Worcester reached 232-9.
KEMPSEY put their promotion hunt from Division Three back on track with an emphatic 209-run victory over Barnards Green Thirds.
Simon Dorrell (82) and Matthew Walters (53) led the way with the bat for Kempsey who posted an imposing score of 268-8 from their 50 overs.
In their response, Green failed with the bat as they were skittled out for a paltry 59 after 16 overs with Zach Marsh (21) the only player to reach double figures.
Kempsey take on fellow promotion hopefuls Bartestree & Lugwardine on Saturday.
MALVERN boosted their hopes of climbing out of the Worcestershire County League Division Three relegation zone with a much-needed victory over Rushwick at the Ramblers Ground.
Rushwick won the toss and opted to bat before posting a respectable score of 284-6 from 50 overs.
However, Malvern showed grit and determination as they reached 285-7 in the final over to claim a much-needed victory.
Malvern now sit 40 points adrift of third-from-bottom Barnards Green Thirds with eight games remaining.
HANLEY CASTLE & UPTON climbed out of the Division Four relegation zone after securing back-to-back victories with a 14-run win over basement side Oldswinford & Stourbridge Social.
Hanley chose to bat after winning the toss and reached 267-6 in 50 overs with the help of 71 from skipper Rory Mathews which was backed up by Ollie Price (57) and Charlie Tippell (31 no).
Oldswinford put on a valiant stand in their response but narrowly missed out on walking away with a result as they were bowled out for 253 in the 48th over.
Todd Mathews (4-54) got the lion’s share of the wickets while Ian Hatton (56) top scored for Oldswinford.
WEST MALVERN consolidated their spot in the Division Five promotion places with comprehensive nine-wicket victory over third placed Hallow.
Hallow were put into bat after losing the toss but were bowled out for just 175 in the 44th over despite the best efforts of opener Dave Pugh who top scored with 44.
Will Jones (3-19) got the lion’s share of the wickets for a West Malvern side who needed just 30.5 overs to secure victory.
An inspired 108 not out from Philip Chaundy saw the home side east to 176-1 to walk away with the 20 points.
West Malvern face a crunch clash against league leaders Tenbury Wells on Saturday.