Recently relegated West Bromwich and Dartmouth made their first-ever visit to North End Lane. Their captain Stevenson won the toss and chose to field – a decision he may well now regret. Ryan Tongue and Rehaan Edavalath opened the batting and they both looked comfortable straight away. The 50 partnership came up in just 65 balls, and this pair had put on 71 when Tongue chipped one up to be caught and bowled by Kobe Herft for 29 (5 fours). Ollie Halion joined Edavalath but unfortunately ran himself out for 4 attempting a second run on a miss-field from Dannyjo Cox. This brought George Rhodes to the crease with the score 80-2 in the 17th over. After steadying the ship a little this partnership flourished with both batters playing some lovely shots. In the 20th over Edavalath swept the ball for four to bring up his well-crafted half century. The West Bromwich and Dartmouth bowlers had no answers as both batters continued to play some fantastic shots. Edavalath hit a boundary through mid-wicket to take the score past 150 and brought his own century with a beautiful cover drive for 4. Rhodes brought up his own half century with an exquisite, lofted drive for 6 and with 15 overs remaining there was a conscious effort from both batters to accelerate. Edavalath’s wonderful innings ended when he was caught by Tim Maxfield at backward square leg. His fine 117 came off 124 balls and included 15 fours and a six and formed part of a 1678 run partnership. Phil Harris came in but was the next wicket to fall as he holed out to Ismail Mohammed at mid-off for 8 off the bowling of Sajid Ahmadzai. Rhodes hit a lovely cover drive for 4 to bring up his century off just 79 balls but only added 6 more runs before he was caught behind by Ian Steveson off Ahmadzai. His 106 came off 79 balls and included 11 fours and 3 sizes. As the Green aimed for 325 Ollie Rogoff hit 12 before he was bowled by Shazhab Raja. Josh Dickenson hit 24 not out ( including 1 fours and 2 huge sixes) and Josh Blunt chipped in with 14 off 9 balls (2 fours) to take the Green to 335-6 in their 50 overs.

With reduced seam options the green could not afford to be complacent despite the huge total posted. Phil Harris grabbed a wicket in his third over when Dannyjo Cox was caught at first slip by Ryan Tongue for 5. Ismail Mohammed and overseas Kobe Herft went along at a steady pace of 4 an over but this only caused the required run rate to climb and the pressure to build. Herft fell next caught by Edavalath in the deep, off Josh Dickenson for 22. This left West Brom 64-2 in the 17th over with required run rate over 8 an over. Ibbadat Thaman came in and after a few balls at 4 but before a new partnership could really be established Mohammed was caught by Ollie Halion at deep mid-wicket off Josh Blunt for 35. Tim Maxfield joined Thaman and both batters attempted to up the run rate and a few maximums were hit. George Rhodes took the wicket of the dangerous Maxfield – clean bowling him for 12. Ben Clarke joined the attack and took two wickets in his first over. Firstly Shahzeb Ahmed (12) was caught by Blunt on the long on boundary then Rawlston Tippin was clean bowled for 1. West Brom were now struggling on 139-6 and this became 168-7 when Thaman was caught by Phil Harris at cover point for 46 (this included 5 fours and 2 sixes). The game should really have been over by this point but several catches when down. With the run rate over 11 the visitors had no choice but to swing the bat. Sajid Ahmadzai had made 52 when he was stumped by Ash Brewer off Clarke. Harris Ajaz came and went caught by Harris off Blunt for 0 and Ben Clarke ended the innings with his fourth wicket (4-36) – clean bowling Drew Malek also without scoring. West Bromwich and Dartmouth were bowled out for 218 in the 42 over to give the Green their first 20 point win of the season.,

2nd XI keep up their winning streak as Sutton hits an unbeaten 159

The 2nd XI captained by Elliot Hennessy travelled to Old Vigornians 1st XI hoping to keep up their winning start to the season. The hosts won the toss and decided to bat first but were soon struggling at 7-3. Adam Witt had Milan Laljani caught on the last ball of the first over for 0, then Aiden Webb grabbed two quick wickets as both Oliver Tsiquaye (4) and Oli Bartlet (0) were also caught. Opener Rowan Good was joined by George Francis and they set about rebuilding the innings and in fact this pair put on 71 before Good fell caught off Gabriel Mujahiri for 27.

Alex Lowe joined Francis and they batted well scoring regular boundaries on the small ground. Captain Hennessy rotated his bowlers and it was Harvey Smedley who broke the partnership – getting the wicket of Francis for 76 – leaving OVs 165-5 which was a good recovery from their early position. Lowe continued scoring well as he was partnered by Max Richardson and they took the score to 193 before Will Dovey had Richardson caught for 16. Gabriel Mujahiri grabbed the next wicket – trapping Jimmy Dewhirst lbw for 4. Aiden Webb returned to dismiss top-scoring Lowe (caught for 80) and Smedley grabbed a second wicket to end the innings – clean bowling Elliott McPherson for 14. OVs reached 273 all out in the final over – Webb was pick of the bowlers with 3-48.

Although the Green were facing a formidable total this did not phase the openers Ben Sutton and in-form Rob Wilson. They set about the OVs bowlers from the start – both hit boundaries as their first scoring shots. The boundaries continued off all OVs bowlers as the pairing built a substantial partnership. It was only broken with the score on 163 as Wilson was caught by George Francis off the bowling of Milan Laljani for 72 – this included 12 fours and 2 sixes. Will Dovey joined Sutton, who by now, was in his stride, boundaries came with ease as he passed a hundred. Dovey fell next with the score on 210 – also caught by Francis off Laljani for 24. George Blannin came in and ended up 1 not out as Sutton took the Green to victory – including a six to win the game. The Green finished 274-2 in the 31st over, Ben Sutton was 159 not out which included 21 fours and 8 sixes.

Amaan Edavalath hits half century in defeat for 3rd XI

The 3rd XI made the trip to Five Ways Old Edwardians. The hosts won the toss and decided to bowl. The Green were soon struggling on 9-2 as both openers were dismissed. Max Middlebrook was bowled by Sajid Ali for 4 and Lewis Regan was caught by Jonathan Tovey off Dave Kendall for 2. This left youngsters Sam Clements and Amaan Edavalath at the crease. Kendall struck again with the score on 27 as Clements was caught by Sabir Ahmadzai for 11. Captain Roger Thompson joined Edavalath and this pair took the score to 66 before Thompson was caught by Iain Wingfield for 14. Jack Curtis came in at 6 and didn’t show that he hadn’t played competitive cricket for a number of years as he and Edavalath took the score past 100. Just when it looked like the Green would post a good total a run of wickets came – they went from 149-4 to 161 – 8. Jack Curtis was caught by Chris Webber off Nick Porter for 42, then Jonathan Tovey grabbed 3 wickets including Amman Edavalath bowled for 54, Shane Thompson (8) and Lliam Campbell (2) both caught by George Marshall. Harrison Smith and Luke Haffield took the score to 175 before Smith was Tovey’s 4th victim – caught by Abdul Ali for 15. When Jon Clements was run out for 0 by Chris Webber the Green innings ended on 176.

The Five Ways reply didn’t get off to a great start as they too lost both openers early. Sajid Ali was caught without scoring of Amaan Edavalath and Iain Wingfield was run out for 1. 6-2 became 25-3 when Sam Clements bowled Khizar Khan for 4. Abdul Ali was joined by Chris Webber and they put on 22 before Luke Haffield trapped Webber lbw for 14. Five Ways were making steady progress but regular wickets gave the Green hope. Harrison Smith had Glenn Richardson stumped by Lewis Regan for 12, Max Middlebrook clean bowled Ali for 36. James Hughes-Tranter had made 19 before being caught off the bowling of Roger Thompson for 19. But it was the innings of Jonathan Tovey 36 not out and Sabir Ahmadzai that saw Five Ways home to victory reaching 180 -7 in the 40th over.

4th XI stay unbeaten as veterans show their class.

The 4th XI hosted local rivals Malvern CC 3rd XI hoping to build on last week's victory over Rushwick. Malvern won the toss and chose field. Openers Chris Hill and Dave Sutton showed both their skill and experience in building a fine opening partnership before Hill was bowled by Luke Foster-Turner for 85, Jake Betteridge came in at 3 and unfortunately ran out Sutton for 74. He went on to make 23 before being clean bowled by Iain Lapsley. Alex Atkins-Harding grabbed three quick wickets as Bertie Bannister was bowled for 1, Manu Pappachan was caught by Foster-Turner for 10 and Amal babu was caught for 11. Lapsley grabbed this second and third wickets as Sujeesh Mohan (1) and Owen Gregory (0) were both clean bowled. The Green ended their innings on 241-8.

In the Malvern reply, James Laidler and Owen Gregory bowled tightly but without reward as openers David Kelm and Michael Arnold batted well. They had put on 56 before Dave Sutton bowled Kelm for 17. He then took a smart caught and bowled to dismiss Arnold for 23. Jacob Perry bowled Richard Simmonds for 10 and his brother Sam bowled Luke Foster-Turner for 0, and Neil Palmer was bowled by Sujeesh Mohan also without scoring. Jim Wilkes had batted well for his 34 when Jacob Perry had him caught by Bertie Bannister. Regular wickets significantly hampered Malvern’s run chase. Bertie Bannister grabbed his first league wicket when Iain Lapsley was caught behind by Jake Betteridge for 13 and then he clean bowled Alex Atkins-Harding for 2. The final wicket fell with the score on 159 as Sujeesh Mohan bowled Paul Coller for 21 – and Mohan finished with bowling of 3-13.