Worfield batter Walsall after superb ton
A blistering century from Basit Zaman helped Worfield crush Walsall by 185 runs and preserve their Birmingham League status.
Zaman smashed 10 sixes on his way to 145 from 105 balls and shared a 217-run third wicket stand with Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes, who scored a slightly more pedestrian 126 from 116 balls, as the Shropshire club compiled 354-7 batting first.
Walsall, who needed victory to maintain any chance of overhauling their hosts and escaping the Division Two drop zone, never looked like troubling the total, Ryan Quiney and Matthew Rees taking three wickets apiece as Walsall were bowled out for 169.
Visiting batsman Rahul Kaushal (63) top scored in the reply and was the only other batter other than Zaman and Rhodes to pass 50 on the day. Wicketkeeper Tom Pickerill, with 24 not out, was the home side’s third highest scorer.
While Worfield achieved safety in emphatic style, Shifnal’s exit from Division One was confirmed with a defeat to Smethwick which saw the visitors crowned champions.
Former Nottinghamshire batter Bilal Shafyat hit 132 from 129 balls for the visitors, who reached 292-7 thanks to half centuries from Roshan Venkataraman and Kadeer Ali.
Shifnal’s reply quickly ran into trouble as they were reduced to 52-5 and though Matthew Lamb (32 from 24 balls) and Jack Twigger (30 from 14) provided some lower order resistance, the home side were dismissed for just 157.
Shrewsbury found themselves on the end of a powerful display of hitting from Warwickshire’s Dan Mousley as they were beaten by seven wickets at Berkswell.
Skipper Matthew Swift’s 67 and 58 from Jean-Pierre Erasmus helped the visitors post 274 batting first but Mousley helped make the chase relatively straightforward for the hosts, smashing 119 from 57 balls and sharing an opening stand of 164 with former Bears all-rounder Ateeq Javid.
The latter was unbeaten on 88 at the close as Berkswell reached the target with eight overs to spare.
Back in Division Two, opener Harry Chandler hit 78 for Wem but could not prevent the already-relegated side from falling to a six-wicket defeat at promotion-chasing Lichfield.
Chandler’s effort helped the visitors post 233-7 but they found it tough to make inroads with the ball, opener Will Davies hitting an unbeaten 92 to marshal the home side to victory with more than five overs to spare.
Bridgnorth had a day to forget as they were beaten by nine wickets at home to Harborne.
Skipper David Exall scored 60 from 66 balls but only three other players reached double figures as the hosts were dismissed for 130 in just 28.1 overs, Tejas Wagle claiming four wickets.
Matty Simmonds removed Jack Holloway early in the reply but it proved the only cheer for Bridgnorth with their opponents cruising to victory inside 15 overs, Swapnil Gugale compiling 64 of his 73 runs with boundaries.
