Shrewsbury raced to an emphatic nine-wicket win over Dorridge to strengthen their position at the top of the Birmingham Cricket League's premier division.

The match was all over by the time Shrewsbury Town kicked off their League One season against Millwall at nearby Greenhous Meadow after another dominant display from the in-form London Roaders.
Dorridge, having elected to bat, were blown away for just 82.

Shrewsbury, in reply, quickly eased to 83-1 inside 10 overs to widen the gap between themselves and second-placed Berkswell to 17 points with six matches of the season remaining.

Happy skipper Rob Foster, whose side travel to eighth-placed Kenilworth Wardens on Saturday, said: "I can't remember a game finishing as early as 2.50pm before. We had a bad result against West Bromwich Dartmouth a few weeks ago but it lasted a bit longer than that.

"It was a strange afternoon but we got the 24 points which is what we set out to do.

"We then kept an eye on Berkswell's result and they did well to chase 270 to beat Barnt Green, but we still gained four points on them so it was a good day."

Dorridge had cause to regret their decision to bat first after struggling throughout their 29 overs in putting just 82 on the board.

England under-17 paceman George Panayi, a Shrewsbury School student, underlined his exciting potential by taking 4-21 from seven lively overs while he was well backed up by Charlie Morris (2-12) and Steve Barnard (2-27).

"Dorridge were short of one or two players so their captain decided to bat to try and put a score on the board, but it quickly backfired," said Foster.

"In fairness, we would probably also batted first, but George Panayi bowled very well and he's a very good young cricketer.

"He's only allowed to bowl seven over spells because of the age restrictions wth him being 17 but he did very well."

Shrewsbury quickly lost opener Ed Foster with the score on four, but that was as good as it got for Dorridge as it only served to bring Will Parton to the crease.

Parton, recalled to the Shropshire side for the last two Unicorns Championship matches, was a man in a hurry as he raced to an unbeaten 55 from just 24 balls, hitting a six and 10 boundaries.

Steve Leach, enjoying such a consistent season, was content to play a supporting role, ending on 27 not out, as Shrewsbury got the job done in just nine and a half overs to complete a highly productive 24 hours following victory in the Salop Leisure KO final against Oswestry on Friday night.

Skipper Foster added: "When you lose an early wicket like we did you wonder are we going to make a meal of it, but Will Parton was outstanding. He played some proper cricket shots and he's been in really good form in the last few weeks which is great to see."

Shrewsbury II, meanwhile, are up to fourth place in reserve division one of the Birmingham League after claiming 14 points from a winning draw at Astwood Bank II.

Matt Swift just missed out on a richly deserved century, falling for 96, as Shrewsbury, for whom opener Liam Brown (34) also chipped in, were bowled out for 224.

Skipper Tim Dean then helped himself to 5-42 as Astwood Bank closed off the pace on 179-8.

Shrewsbury's second teamers host Kenilworth Wardens II on Saturday.