Bird soars to quickfire 73 before pegging back Warwick batsmen

Pete Harrison hit an unbeaten 64 as Hunningham 2nds piled on the runs against Warwick 2nds.

Warwick won the toss and chose to field as the storm clouds gathered overhead, with the start delayed by a brief shower which resulted in two overs being lost from their allocation.

When play got under way, the dangerous Bird got off to a flier as Warwick’s bowlers struggled to find their length.

He offered a regulation chance to slip in the second over which went down and took full advantage, smashing a 55-ball 73 out of a first wicket stand of 83 in 15 overs before gloving a chance off Joe Evans to keeper Tazik Sharma.

With Bird dismissed, spinners Evans and Ed Hare wrestled back control of the game with Hare picking up the wickets of Andrew Heaven and David Reason.

Opener Staniforth quietly accumulated 47 and with injuries to seamers Adam Southorn and Paul Coleman severely limiting options with the ball, Pete Harrison produced some big hitting, plundering an unbeaten 64 off 42 balls to lift Hunningham to 234 for five at the close.

Naresh Airody (29) and Adam Southorn (47) got Warwick’s reply off to a positive start and Tazik Sharma hit a couple of mighty blows before falling for 23 which initiated a flurry of wickets.

Man-of-the-match Bird took four of them as Hunningham pushed for victory but Umair Mushtaq (23 not out) held his nerve to see Warwick to 177 for eight at the close.

Batsmen enjoyed a run-fest at Hampton Road as Warwick 3rds hosted Warwickshire County Council Staff 2nds in a friendly.

Batting first, Warwick scored 288 for four thanks to Danny Robbins (105 not out), Prashantha Panja Narasimha (78 not out) and Owen Griffiths (50).

However, County Council Staff passed the target for the loss of just two wickets with two overs to spare.

Tom Jordan (66) and Tom Austin (56) got them off to a fine start before an explosive innings from Ed Millard (125 not out) saw them home.

Hunningham 1sts also had the better of a winning draw at Old Edwardians to move towards mid-table security in Division Two.

After winning the toss and opting to bat Hunningham were given a solid start with a half-century opening partnership between Philip Blowey (42) and Marcus Mundy (14).

Aman Kalsi chipped in with 39, with double-figure contributions from Lewis Mundy (19), Paul James (14) and Michael Cook (12) enabling them to declare on 182 for eight from 39 overs.

A heavy downpour necessitated an early tea and left Old Eds with 33 overs to reach their target.

After an early onslaught from openers Mohammed Altaf (18) and Asam Shahzad (22) the visitors slipped behind the run rate, losing wickets at regular intervals.

Cook was the pick of the Hunningham bowlers with three for 19 but Old Eds held on at 116 for nine.