KENILWORTH CC were thumped by newly-crowned Warwickshire County League Division One champions Streetly in a 236-run defeat to leave their survival hopes on a knife edge.
Streetly posted a match-winning 346-7 from their 50 overs thanks to their wicketkeeper Neil Curtis who scored a magnificent 159 and put on a 236-run second-wicket partnership with opener Mohammad Daniyaal (80).
And Akbar Ahmed chipped in with a quickfire 34 off 17 balls as the luckless Town bowlers toiled away to no avail with Darius Potten-Ravenshad (3-75) the pick of the attack whilst Joe Atkinson (2-55) and Connor Shingler (2-80) took two wickets apiece.
In reply, Town were unable to cope with the pace attack from Streetly’s Yahiya Khan and Junaid Khan who ripped through Kenilworth’s top order to take five wickets as the visitors collapsed from 22-0 to 22-5.
And Kenilworth then slipped to 43-8 as five batters fell for a duck before an impressive 62-run ninth-wicket partnership between Dave Smithson (39 not out) and Potten-Ravenshad (30) helped Town reach triple figures.
Opener Stuart Cope (16) was the only other Town batter to reach double figures as Kenilworth were bowled out for 110 in the 21st over.
The result leaves Kenilworth in the relegation zone, seven points behind third-bottom Nuneaton who they play at home in a must-win match next weekend.
Kenilworth’s 2nd XI suffered a 101-run defeat in Division Seven East against local rivals Leamington Khalsa.
Khalsa’s Deepal Neema (51), Ranjith Busireddy (47), Vishu Wadekar (37) and Majid Ali (31) scored the bulk of the runs as Leamington were eventually bowled out for 267 in the 49th over.
Town’s Sam Davies (3-27) was the pick of the bowlers whilst Sam Leach (3-50) and Will Sheehan (2-38) also impressed with Geoff Edmunds (1-29) and Tom Best (1-56) taking a wicket apiece.
In reply, Dan Horner and Josh Charlwood both hit 25 against a tight Khalsa bowling attack who restricted Town to 86-6 – well behind the required run rate.
Leach added a useful 50 and combined well with Davies (15) at the crease for a 55-run seventh-wicket partnership before Town were bowled out for 166 in the 46th over.
Lastly, the club’s 3rd XI were beaten by 38 runs against rivals Kenilworth Wardens 4ths in the Cotswold Hills League Division Four North.
Wardens posted a total of 223 runs thanks to a 127-run first-wicket stand between Morgan Jones (66) and Jacob Malayapuram (41) before Matthew Johnson added 31.
Town’s Ben Kelley took 3-32, Dan Hone 3-37 with James Sparks claiming 2-26 and Matt Dadswell 2-42 whilst Tarun Ahuja took four catches.
In reply, Town’s Mark Wisdish hit a fine 53 and was supported by Hone (33), Dadswell (30 not out) and Ahuja (18).
However, their efforts were not enough as Town finished on 185-8 at the close of play, some 38 runs short of Wardens total.
