Seconds pull off a stunning last ball win as Clarke takes 3 wickets in the final over.

Saturday 21st. May

Two remarkable games with close finishes. The 1^st. XI falling two runs short whilst the 2^nd. XI produced a stunning final over, last ball win where 3 wickets fell in 6 balls to give them victory. The 3^rd. XI were well beaten in their match.

1^st XI

Kenilworth v. Leamington 2’s

WCCL Division 1  – 50 overs a side – Win/Lose/Draw format

KENILWORTH LOST BY 2 RUNS 

Leamington 2’s 223-7 (50 overs) (24 points) beat Kenilworth 221-10 (48.4 overs) (6 points) by 2 runs.

The Town 1^st. XI suffered the heartache of a two run defeat as they were bowled out for 221 with 8 balls of the match remaining chasing down the Leamington 2’s score of 223-7 in a very close match that both sides had the chance of winning.

Leamington had found themselves on 66-5 before Jack Hawkes and Dan Williams then shared in a crucial 133 runs 6^th. wicket partnership. Hawkes went onto make a fine 91 (10 x 4, 1 x 6) and Williams 60 (8 x 4) as Connor Shingler took 2-34, Stuart Cope 2-41, Joe Atkinson 2-48 and Steve Rhodes 1-26 for the Town side.

Atkinson who hit 70 and Cope 57 shared in a century 1^st. wicket partnership to start the run chase off for Kenilworth. After their departure, there was a mid order wobble as the Leamington bowlers took control but the Town tail fought back to within the sight of victory as Henry Curran hit 14 and it was number 10, Jack Howard, who nearly saw the side home as he made a fine 31 but was last man out. The pair both fell to Aditya Gokhale who handed Leamington the very narrow win with his 2-45 after James Vaughan had earlier taken 4-32, Jason Butler 2-32 and Sukhjeet Ahira the other wicket to fall as the Town side fell two runs short.

2^nd. XI

Kenilworth v. Attleborough 1’s

WCCL Division 7 East – 50 overs a side – Win/Lose/Draw format

KENILWORTH WON BY 20 RUNS

Kenilworth 183-9 (50 overs) (24 points) beat Attleborough 163-10 (50 overs) (6 points) by 20 runs.

Kenilworth’s Ben Clarke took 3 wickets in the final over to give the Town side a stunning 20 run win over Attleborough with his third coming on the last ball of the match to send the side and the home crowd into raptures. Attleborough had looked in no trouble at 154-4 chasing the Town’s 183-9 but lost their last 6 wickets in the space of 20 balls to be bowled out for 163 as Clarke and Sam Leach ripped through the tail with the ball, aided by a sharp run out from Charlie Stranks – one of two for the visitors to suffer. Leach took 2-23, whilst Clarke ended on 3-24 with an incredible treble wicket maiden last over. He, too, had earlier ran out a batsman whilst Tom Skinner had taken a fine 3-34 from his 12 overs.  

The Town’s score had been reached thanks to Stranks hitting 62 (5 x 4) and Adie Sellar 47 (2 x 4) with Danny Boneham chipping with 13, Dan Horner 12 and Clarke, an unbeaten 11. In reply, Attleborough’s mid order of Bourton made 30, Anwar 33 and Barker 35 – whom Stranks crucially ran out that set Kenilworth up for the memorable final ball win as the Attleborough side fell apart against the bowling accuracy of Leach and Clarke. A great game of cricket.

3^rd. XI

Kenilworth v. Coventry Blues

CHL Division 4 North – 40 overs a side – Win/Lose format

KENILWORTH LOST BY 114 RUNS

Coventry Blues 251-5 (40 overs) (22 points) beat Kenilworth 137-10 (40 overs) (4 points) by 114 runs.

Coventry Blues proved far too strong for the Town 3’s as they racked up 251-5 in their 40 overs and then bowled Kenilworth out for 137 in reply.  Lineesh hit 71, Jobin 61, Rajan 51 not out and Raj 44 in the Blues’ total despite the best efforts of Town’s Tarun Ahuja who took a fine 4-33 from his spell and Nick Moore taking the other wicket to fall. In reply, Dhruv Vyas shone with the bat for Kenilworth making a delightful 63 (8 x 4, 2 x 6) and Steve Kelley 33 (3 x 4) with Dan Hone making 17 (2 x 4) but they were the only batsmen to reach double figures as the others were unable to cope with accuracy of Kandy 4-25, Jose 3-32, Elippatta 2-19 and Sudhakaran 1-29 always finding runs hard to come by and the side were bowled out on the final ball of the match for 137 and a very long way away from the target score.

All 3 sides come second best

Saturday 14^th. May

All  three Kenilworth League sides lost their matches again on Saturday in their respective win/lose format games.

1^st XI

Kenilworth v. Solihull Blossomfield

WCCL Division 1  – 50 overs a side – Win/Lose format

KENILWORTH LOST BY 75 RUNS 

Solilhull Blossomfield 272-9 (50 overs) (20 points) beat Kenilworth 197-10 (45.1 overs) (6 points) by 75 runs.

Solihull Blossomfield moved into second spot in the Division 1 table with a comfortable 75 runs win at Kenilworth. They posted 272-9 in their 50 overs thanks to Edward Thompson hitting 82 (16 x 4) off 69 balls – his half century coming in 27 balls with 11 boundaries as he and Richard Weaver 33 put on 84 runs for the side’s 4^th. wicket. Naveed Bashir then added 54 and Tim Keyte, at number 10, an unbeaten 25 despite good bowling performances from the Town’s Stuart Cope who took 4-52 and Connor Shingler 3-43 whilst Joe Atkinson and Shyaan Imam picked up a wicket each as wicketkeeper Tom Booker took 2 catches and a stumping. Despite, Zohaid Zahib hitting 33 and Cope 31 as they shared in a 4^th. wicket 50 runs partnership for Kenilworth, the side could not keep up with the required run rate and were bowled out in the 46^th. over for 197 as Keyte took 4-36 and Bashir 3-35 for the visitors after Shingler had made 24, Imam 21, Booker 18 and Steve Rhodes, as last man standing, 21 not out (1 x 4, 2 x 6).

2^nd. XI

Kenilworth v. Stockton Star

WCCL Division 7 East – 50 overs a side – Win/Lose format

KENILWORTH LOST BY 51 RUNS

Stockton Star 261-6 (50 overs) (20 points) beat Kenilworth 210-10 (49.5 overs) (5 points) by 51 runs.

Stockton Star’s Yogesh Narveker hit 101 (13 x 4) in his side’s total of 261-6 and was the difference between the 2 sides. He put on 107 runs for the 2^nd. wicket with Hardeep Ubey who made 51 himself and then put on 98 runs for the 3^rd. wicket with Gurdeep Grewal 36. Kenilworth’s Charlie Stranks was the pick of the side’s bowlers taking 4-47 with Dave Gamble and a run out the other wickets to fall. Despite Danny Boneham 42 top scoring for Kenilworth and 41 from Stranks, Kenilworth fell away and were bowled out in the final over for 210 after Dave Smithson had earlier chipped in with 26 and Tarun Ahuja 24. Stockton’s Raj Kumar took 3-40 whilst there were a brace of wickets for Anand Kale, Narvekar and Vishal Kansara in their win.

3^rd. XI

Kenilworth v. Lapworth

CHL Division 4 North – 40 overs a side – Win/Lose format

KENILWORTH LOST BY 8 WICKETS

Kenilworth 150-5 (40 overs) (4 points) lost to Lapworth 151-2 (37.3 overs) (20 points) by 8 wickets.

Lapworth’s Ben Wright steered his side to a well-paced 8 wicket win as he made an unbeaten 82 as they chased down Kenilworth’s 150-5 with two overs to spare after Stephen Kelley and Will Thompson had both made 27 each for the home side. Thompson hit 7 boundaries. Opener Dhruv Vyas made 25 and Andy Dadswell 16 not out in the Town’s total. Lapworth, in reply, put on 72 for their 1^st. wicket with Greg Williams making 30  before Wright and Asam Nazam 19 put on a further and a match winning 78 runs for the 2^nd. wicket to see the side home safely. Dan Hone and Thompson were Kenilworth’s only wicket takers.