Shrewsbury score second win over rivals

The London Roaders made it four straight victories in all competitions by beating their Solihull rivals by 123 runs.

Having beaten their hosts two weeks ago in the final of the Graham Williamson Trophy, Shrewsbury were tettering on 39-3 when Rob Foster came to the wicket.

But the skipper lead by example as he struck 92 not out, to see his side to 224.

Steve Leach had opened with 40 before Foster shared a 70-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Anthony Parker (48).

In reply, the home side collapsed to 101 all out with Steve Barnard (4-36) the pick of Shrewsbury's bowlers.

In Division One, Oswestry dropped into the bottom three after a home defeat to fellow strugglers Himley.

Wasim Jaffer (88) and Bilal Hussein (61) helped the away side to 221-. Skipper Mark Robinson was the pick of the Shropshire side's bowlers with figures of 5-53.

Oswestry had been boosted by the return of in-form batsman Joe Clarke for the clash, but he was dismissed for just 13.

Sadly for Robinson's men, the wickets continued to tumble and they eventually crashed to 87 all out after just 25 overs.

It was also a bad afternoon for Wellington who have now won only twice in their opening seven games, after falling to defeat against Smethwick.

Scott De Weymarn (46) and Neil Edwards (41) top scored as they made 229. But Smethwick skipper Vikram Sodhi (102 not out) inspired his side to a seven-wicket win.

Shifnal skipper Tom Collins believes it's all to play for in Division Two after his side bounced back to winning ways by beating Halesowen.

Following defeat against struggling Brewood last weekend, the Shropshire outfit returned to form with a 22-run win.

Muhammad Ayub (38), Sam Cotter (37) and Collins (33) provided the bulk of the runs in Shifnal's 144.

An impressive bowling display then rolled Halesowen over for just 122, Collins saying: "It was a very good and much needed win.

"The wicket is one of those that is hard to post big scores on and we have seen from the games earlier on in the season that something like 144 can be good enough.

"All the teams who have batted first and posted a similar score have gone onto win.

"But I don't want to take anything away from our bowlers who were outstanding. Ian Mills (5-24) bowled exceptionally well but all the bowlers stuck their plans and made it very difficult for them."

The result lifted Collins' side up to sixth in the table on 76 points, with county rivals Bridgnorth still leading the way on 120.

And Collins expects his side to go from strength to strength when they move back to Priorslee Road at the end of the month.

They have played all their homes games at Ellesmere College so far while their outfield is relaid.

Collins added: "It's such a tight division and we're going along nicely. We hope to be to be back at Shifnal towards the end of the month and we are yet to play two of the top three sides.

"If we get results against them we won't be far away – anything can happen."

While Shifnal celebrated, Bridgnorth came away with a losing draw after being outplayed away to Sutton Coldfield.

The home side posted 220-8 from their 55 overs and then began brightly with the ball as they slipped to 19-3. But opener Karl Quiney carried his bat for 58 to deny Sutton a victory.

In Division Three, Whitchurch's recent good form continued as they battled to a two-wicket win against Aston Manor who were dismissed for 186 in 48.5 overs.

Whitchurch left it late to secure victory, with Ijaz Yousuf (56 not out) striking two sixes in the last over to see them home with two balls to spare.

Meanwhile, Worfield fell to a 100-run loss at Fordhouses. The home side posted 185 with Gagandeep Singh (4-24) and Joseph Arnold (4-64) impressing with the ball.

But the visitors could only manage 85 with the bat, Will Cook and Patrick Butler both scoring 22.