THE Wardens’ struggles at the foot of Birmingham & District Premier Division One continue, after slipping to a five-wicket loss at Smethwick.
A dismal innings by Kenilworth, in which they were dismissed for just 93 after 42 overs, was followed by a quickfire batting display by Smethwick to give the hosts victory.
Electing to bat first after winning the toss, openers Nick Seager (23) and Ben Rex (22) hit 33 for the Wardens, though the failure to manage a similar stand proved costly for the visitors.
A middle order collapse followed, with a double-figure score not being registered until the introduction of skipper Mark Pidgeon (15) at number eight.
Pidgeon was the final man to go, after being dismissed by Smethwick bowler Gurinder Singh, who took a remarkable seven wickets for just nine runs conceded.
Smethwick put together an opening stand of 42 in reply through Faisal Shahid (14) and Rawait Khan (36), although the pair, alongside number three Hamza Ahmed (0), were dismissed to leave the hosts on a 52-3 scoreline.
Captain Amrinder Brar (14) and Omar Masood (2) were the final two dismissals taken by Kenilworth bowler James Sykes (4-41), who tried in vain to keep the game alive for the visitors.
He was unable to stop number five Singh (23no), however, who backed up his bowling display to fire his side to victory.
Kenilworth remain 52 points adrift at the bottom of the league with six games to play, with Barnt Green the visitors on Saturday (noon) in the latest encounter.
