Title blow for Warwick after two-wicket defeat to Bournville

Warwick won the toss and openers Graeme Burke and Adrian Passey got off to a typically solid start, putting on 41 before Burke was bowled by Mitesh Soni (8-2-27-1) for 18.

He was followed shortly after by Shubhayan Chandra for three off the bowling of Milan Vashi (11-1-42-2).

Youngster Benjamin Rhodes and Passey added runs steadily, putting on 60 before Rhodes was dismissed for 20 off the bowling of Rob Ball (12-2-23-1).

Tazik Sharma (10) and Thomas Cox (1) departed as Warwick looked to accelerate the run rate to leave the score on 132 for five from 43 overs.

Rajan Bhatti hit two boundaries in his 15 before he was bowled by opening bowler Fazel Haq (10-1-37-2) and Warwick closed their innings on 160 for seven with Passey having carried his bat for 81.

Bhatti bowled Joe Cherry in the second over of the Bournville reply only for a second-wicket partnership of 108 between James Beech and Oliver Mann to take the game away from Warwick.

Both batsmen were patient in their approach and quick to punish any loose deliveries and Warwick used seven bowlers to try and find the breakthrough, with leg-spinner Anil Lohan (9.1-0-47-1) eventually bowling Mann for 53.

With the visitors only needing 45 runs to win with eight wickets in hand, opening bowlers Joshua Osborne and Bhatti were brought back into the attack and it was Bhatti who turned the game on its head.

He bowled James Beech for 53, trapped David Fleming lbw for a duck and then bowled Liam Farrington for 13 to leave Bournville on 129 for five, finishing with figures of 12-6-13-4.

Osborne (12-2-22-1) had the dangerous Jahangir Khan caught for seven which was soon followed by a direct hit from Thomas Cox to dismiss Mitesh Soni (5).

However, despite Richard Rudnicki (7-1-23-1) trapping opposing captain Deejay Budden in front for ten, Milan Vashi (9 not out) hit the winning runs as Bournville reached the target with two wickets in hand and 11 deliveries remaining.

Warwick 2nds claimed a five-wicket win at Hunningham 2nds in Warwickshire Division Eight East.

Warwick inserted the hosts and the decision was vindicated by an outstanding opening spell from new-ball duo Craig Patterson (3-35) and Safiq Shaikh (2-36).

Aside from opener Phil Blowey (34) and a quickfire 26 from captain Stuart Bird, the Hunningham top order struggled to cope with the excellent line and length of the bowlers.

The introduction of Paul Jackson (3-26) and spinner Joe Evans (2-38) then saw the hosts collapse from 97 for four to 100 for eight and only good late-order batting from Pete Harrison (42 not out) enabled Hunningham to reach 161 all out, the number ten putting on 49 for the last wicket.

Warwick batted sensibly in reply, with skipper Michael Hope and James Sood building a solid 57-run partnership for the third wicket before Hope (36) was out in the 22nd over.

Ed Hare, returning from injury, then joined Sood and the pair added another half-century partnership to take the game beyond Hunningham.

Sood (58) batted with fantastic application and when he was finally out caught off a top edge from fast bowler Marcus Mundy (2-35), Warwick were within touching distance of victory.

Hare (29 not out) then saw the visitors home in the 35th over.

Warwick 3rds returned to winning ways on Saturday with a three-wicket victory at Alcester and Ragley 2nds.

The hosts won the toss and elected to bat on a slightly sticky wicket and lost wickets at regular intervals.

Opener Bradley Jefferies top-scored with 47 and Jack Fildew chipped in with a late-order 28 as Alcester were bowled out for 136 in the 43rd over.

The wickets were shared around, with Tom Spencer (3-19), Prashantha Panja Narasimha (2-21) and Paul Shawcross (2-26) having the pick of the figures.

A 70-run partnership for the second wicket between Steve Webb (37) and Naresh Airody (24) was the highlight of the reply.

Narasimha hit a quickfire 17 and George Charczun made 20 as Warwick got home with ten overs and three wickets to spare.