1st XI v Halesowen

Brewood were just 1 wicket away from claiming a much needed 24 point victory against bottom of the league Halesowen, but instead had to settle for a winning draw from a match which looked to be going away from them at one stage.

An hour and a half or so of persistent drizzle from around 11.30am onwards meant a delayed start, but when the rain finally cleared, the teams were left to contest a 41 over game; Halesowen winning the toss and inviting the visitors to bat. Brewood’s innings didn’t start well, losing opener Richard Hewitt who was well caught at second slip by Shauib Mohammed off the bowling of Danny Jeavons for 2. One of stand-in skipper Bruce Thomason’s first decisions was who to bat at number three in the absence of regular captain Cameron Fox. The job was given to youngster Andy Day who began building a useful partnership with opener Nick Southall. The pair took the score along to 49 before Day edged Faisal Shahid through to wicket keeper Joe Tromans after making a steady 19 runs.

Thomason was next to partner Southall and he looked in explosive form, continuing from his previous week’s century against Water Orton. He hit Shahid for 14 runs in an over, before launching leg-spinner Richard Brooker for 2 huge sixes off consecutive deliveries. Brooker, however, soon got his revenge, finding Thomason’s outside edge with his very next delivery and giving Tromans his second catch of the day; the skipper gone for a quick fire 32 off just 18 balls. Southall was next to fall, trapped L.B.W by Zain Shahid after making a watchful and patient 35 which laid the foundations on which others could build. Chris Tranter and Richard Rawlinson kept the momentum going, both finding the boundary regularly with quick fire scores of 36 and 32 respectively. Rawlinson went first, clean bowled to become Faisal Shahid’s second wicket, before Tranter picked out Tarryck Gabriel at deep mid off to become Mahroof Azam’s only wicket of the day.

With Brewood now on 171-6 and 6 overs still remaining, a score of 200 plus was well within range, but their innings rather tailed off at this point, Faisal Shahid claiming the remaining 4 wickets in quick succession to finish with figures of 6-55 from just under 10 overs. David Wedge (5), Stuart Jevons (2), Jamie Lunn (0) all came and went far too quickly for the visitors liking, although number 11 Robbie Byrne fared slightly better, making 10 before he became the final wicket of the innings. It remained unclear if Brewood’s eventual total of 186 would be slightly under par.

It certainly seemed that way as Halesowen opener Tarryck Gabriel made rapid inroads into the total, taking a particular liking to the bowling of Andy Day, the experiment to open the bowling with him backfiring. Fortunately for Brewood, Jamie Lunn was in good form at the other end and he trapped the West Indian L.B.W for 30, made from just 28 balls. Fellow opener Kester Moseley was playing a more conventional openers innings and set about forming an excellent partnership with Shauib Mohammed, one which looked to be setting Halesowen up for a comfortable victory. By the drinks break after over 20, the home side were 96-1, needing a further 91 runs from 21 overs for victory, with 9 wickets still intact.

But when David Wedge bowled Mohammed for 40, the whole momentum of the game swung in Brewood’s favour as they tore through the host’s middle order. Fiasal Shahid was next to go, L.B.W to Robbie Byrne for just 2, followed by Wes Griffiths who made just 1 before edging Wedge through to wicket keeper Richard Rawlinson. Then it was Chris Tranter’s turn to join in, claiming the wickets of Zain Shahid, caught by Lucas Evans for 7, before Tromans returned a simple catch to Tranter to depart for a solitary run. Sandwiched between Tranter’s two wickets was the end of Moseley’s long vigil, the opener eventually departing for solid 31 off 69 balls when he became the second batsman adjudged L.B.W to Robbie Byrne.

So, from being 96-1, Halesowen were now in trouble on 120-7, which quickly became 124-8 when Wedge claimed his third wicket; Richard Brooker edging through to the safe hands of Rawlinson. With 6 overs left to negotiate, the pressure was on Daniel Jeavons and Ed Rhodes, but the pair held their ends up well as the game headed towards a draw. There was a late twist when Wedge trapped Jeavons L.B.W for 9 off the fourth ball of the 41st over, but Azam was able to see off the last two balls to deny Brewood an outright victory.
The turn-around after the drinks interval had been a dramatic one, with Brewood happy to claim the 16 points from their winning draw, with the hosts left to contemplate another batting collapse which saw a match winning position slip away.

Phil McShane 30/6/14