Shifnal CC skipper offers no excuses

The Priorslee Road club went down by 10 runs in their Division Two clash after being in a seemingly dominant position.

Needing 235 to win, Shifnal looked comfortable at 133-1 but a collapse saw them slump to defeat.

And Collins admitted they threw it away.

"We handed it on a plate to them," he said. "We needed 100 off the final 20 overs with nine wickets in hand.

"It should have been a cruise but we folded.

"We probably won 80 per cent of the game but lost it in the last 10 overs of both innings, which is when it matters."

The hosts looked set for a below par total at 80-3 with 30 overs gone, only for Wombourne's overseas star Kuldeep Diwan to smash an unbeaten 74 off 52 balls to push their final total up to 234-5.

Yet in reply, Shifnal could not have asked for better than an opening stand of 60 between Collins (20) and Chris Murrall.

The latter and Muhammad Ayab looked set to see the visitors most of the way home but Murrall was out for 60 before Ayab was run out, having scored 59 from 53 balls.

Collins said: "Their captain later said a run out was the only way they were going to get him out and that is what happened.

"It was very frustrating."We fielded well but Diwan came off in the last few overs and it meant the target was higher than it might have been."

Shifnal have won just one of their opening three fixtures but despite the defeat, Collins believes there are still plenty of positives to take.

"We are close," he added. "The middle order is still a bit inexperienced but hopefully Saturday can be used as a learning curve.

"That is two games we have lost in close fashion and we just need to be a bit more resilient.

"Certainly we have put in a good performance for 80 per cent of the game, but when it mattered it wasn't quite good enough."

While Shifnal were edged out, Shropshire rivals Bridgnorth maintained their flying start to the season as they made it three wins from three.

Stourbridge were the latest side to be swept aside by the in-form Cricket Meadow men.

Skipper James Ralph led by example with the bat as Bridgnorth eased to a 124-run success.

Opener Ralph helped his side recover from the early loss of Karl Quiney and Ryan Lockley as he joined forces with Simon Gregory.

Ralph fell nine short of a deserved century while Gregory struck 73 and David Exall chipped in with 40 as Bridgnorth posted 263-7 from 50 overs.

Exall and Dale Quiney then both picked up three wickets while Ralph claimed two victims to help dismiss Stourbridge for 139 in reply.

The victory left Bridgnorth in a three-way tie at the top on 60 points with Penkridge and Tamworth.