Shropshire Cricket League Premier Division

Whitchurch are into fifth place in the Shropshire Cricket League Premier Division after recording a double Bank Holiday winning weekend.

On Saturday, they beat Alscott Heath when they dispatched their opposition by 56 runs.

Batting first, Whitchurch scored quickly through opener Matthew Batkin but also lost wickets at regular intervals, and were 87-4 before Simon Dimelow arrived at the crease.

His 20 contributed to a 57-run partnership with Batkin as the latter moved past his half-century but was out for 78, dismissed by Jason Summers.

Whitchurch then lost their last five wickets for 41 runs as they were bowled out for 190.

Any hope of Heath chasing their target down were blown away early on as Whitchurch reduced them to 22-4, with Aatif Ali taking two and skipper Daniel Bowen one, with a run out from Vansh Bajaj.

Heath recovered to 55-4 but Ali added a third wicket and when Bajaj took his first wicket of the day to leave Heath 72-6, the Heath Road side closed in on victory.

Ali added a fourth while Bajaj took two more with Nadeem Ahmad the other wicket taker as Heath were all out for 144.

Then on Bank Holiday Monday, Daniel Bowen’s men made the trip to Sentinel and there was nothing robotic about their performance.

The hosts elected to bat first after winning the toss and Whitchurch were impressive with the ball once again.

They were made to wait until 21 before Daniel Bowen had Niall Salisbury trapped lbw for 14 and he and Elliott Bowen took another three between them to reduce Sentinel to 53-4.

However, a recovery from Malcolm Serplet, who was dismissed by Bajaj for 41 and Tom Matthews who scored 51 from 49 balls before Bajaj trapped him lbw.

The spinner finished with 5-64 from 12 overs as he polished the tail off to bowl Sentinel out for 170.

In reply, Whitchurch set about their task with an eye on the surrounding rains as Batkin and Salim Ahmed put on 78 for the second wicket as the opener collected consecutive 50s.

However, both batters were dismissed with the score on 91 to give Whitchurch a wobble, but they were guided over the line by Elliott Bowen’s 26 not out and Patrick Phillips’s 19 not out to win by five wickets.

Meanwhile, the second XI beat Much Wenlock’s first XI on Saturday by 37 runs, with Dave Weaver’s 76 the standout showing.

On Sunday, the third XI recorded a tight one-wicket win against Madeley’s third XI, with David Brunyard’s 41 the top score.

On Saturday, Whitchurch travel to Madeley’s first XI.