CRICKET: A DISPLAY of patient batting from the middle order helped Kenilworth Wardens earn a draw against Brockhampton at the weekend despite being reduced to 6/3 at one stage.
Batsmen Mankad, Donald, and Anwar guided Wardens to 181 after Brockhampton’s opening bowlers put on a display of excellence throughout the opening stages of the game.
Wardens lost the toss and were invited to bat on a windy and overcast afternoon which was always likely to favour bowling.
By the seventh over, Wardens were reduced to 6/3 as Sri Lankan overseas player Dinusha Fernando and Herefordshire’s Jamie McIlroy proved unplayable in the cloudy conditions.
Wardens overseas player Prerak Mankad was joined by Scott Stenning as the pair attempted to repair the early damage.
They set about recovering the situation and all went well until Stenning became McIlroy’s third scalp of the afternoon when he was bowled for seven with the score on 28.
The demise of Stenning, brought Martin Donald to the wicket to join Mankad in the only substantial partnership of the innings.
They took the score to 110 before the introduction of spinner Andy Hewett saw Mankad’s 73 ball innings of 55 end – he was brilliantly caught by the diving Ian Bullock behind the wicket, the innings included five fours and two sixes.
With the arrival of Anwar, Wardens’ fortunes continued to prosper as they moved on to 150, before the reintroduction of captain Nick Powell into the attacked led to the dismissal of both Donald (46) and Anwar (29) in quick succession as Wardens finally closed on 181.
Brockhampton’s reply got off to a flying start with Andy Hewlett (14) hitting Anwar’s second ball for a big six over cover and the next ball for 4, before being bowled by Anwar in his third over.
The removal of Rogoff in the tenth over saw overseas player Fernando (33) come to the wicket – and although Wardens found getting wickets difficult against determined batting, equally runs were proving very hard to accumulate.
The backbone of Brocks’ resistance came from a 105 ball innings from Ashley Bullock, who batted for 114 minutes for his 30*.
Despite a late flourish from captain Nick Powell (34), he could not see his side home to victory and the innings finally closed on 159 for 6 off 57 overs.
Matt Hancock proved the pick of Wardens’ bowlers as he took one wicket for 33 runs from 17 overs.
Hancock was assisted in his efforts by Anwar (24/2) and Mankad who also bowled 17 over and took two wickets for 41 runs.
2ND XI
Wardens continued their fine form with a winning draw away in Brockhampton.
After losing the toss and being inserted Wardens were soon 31-3, losing Brammer (5), Mousley (11) and Madley (10) as Cook (25/2) and Price (60/4) combined well with the new ball.
The partnership of Wood (52) and in form Anthony steadied the early wobble as Wardens progressed from 31/3 to 122/4.
Once Wood was dismissed for 52, it was Anthony who then continue unflustered – batting for more than 35 overs for a well-timed 83.
With the forecast clearly showing rain on the horizon, Wardens declared three overs early with a useful 210/8.
Brockhampton needed to bat at a run rate of 4.5 to achieve a winning draw, and their innings got off to the worst of starts as both opening bowlers struck in their first overs.
Skipper Porter came to the crease as Wardens sensed a quick-fire victory.
Porter was eventually caught for a run-a-ball 63 while the proceeding five overs only contributed ten runs.
With Brockhampton going at 4.1 runs per over and light rain turning heavy, Brockhampton’s innings ended on 145-5 from 35.5 overs providing Wardens with 13 points from their 140 mile round trip.
Wardens now sit in second place in their first season in the Premier Division for eight years.
3RD XI
Kenilworth Wardens 3rd XI fell to a hard fought six wicket defeat in their Cotswold-Hills League Division One fixture at Rowington CC 1st XI.
Having lost the toss and being asked to bat, Wardens made a steady start in difficult batting conditions – at one stage reaching 132 for the loss of just two wickets with Fred Rex (65) and James May (40) the main contributors.
Tight bowling restricted Wardens to just 167/7 from their 45 overs.
In reply, Rowington’s innings got off to a similarly pedestrian start/
However, skipper Turrell took advantage of a dropped catch to take control of the game, hitting 41* to guide his team to victory with 171/4 in the 44th over.
4TH XI
Kenilworth’s fourth team welcomed league leaders Claverdon CC to Glasshouse Lane for their Cotswold Hills League Division Five fixture.
Wardens won the toss and elected to field, but struggled to make an early breakthrough as Claverdon’s opening pair of Will Lawton and Vince Hammond (17) put on 62 for the opening wicket.
Fletcher then joined Lawton and scored 35 as Claverdon’s total progressed to 115.
Wicket started to fall on a regular basis from their as the visiting side reached 281/8 from their 45 overs.
In reply, Wardens’ openers Les Reid (22) and Mike Sorrell (46) provided a solid base for the middle order to work from, putting on 76 for the opening wicket.
But accurate bowling from Tony Andrews (21/0) reduced Kenilworth’s run rate as Marillier (29), Nick Lewis (56*), and John Casey (39) tried to chase down the target.
Casey and Lewis were forced to settle for collecting maximum batting points though as continued accurate bowling put the required run rate beyond them.
Wardens closed on 225/3 off 45 overs.
Picture: Steve Johnson.
