Shropshire Cricket League Premier Division

Whitchurch squeezed home in a low-scoring thriller at Heath Road against St Georges on Saturday, claiming a four-wicket win.

Skipper Daniel Bowen won the toss and opted to give his side a target to chase as he inserted the opposition.

And he led the way perfectly as Whitchurch gave themselves a huge chance of winning the game when they dismissed St Georges for 89 in the 25th over.

Opener Rory Livingstone was first man out after the visitors raced to 26 when he was caught behind by Eddie Lewis for just five, but St Georges then reached 51 before Frazer Watson was run out by Aatif Ali for 10.

This sparked a collapse as opener Gareth Hughes was bowled by Elliott Bowen for 27 and St Georges soon went from 51-2 to 69-5, with Elliott picking up all three wickets.

Some loose bowling from Whitchurch, conceding 20 extras, allowed St Georges to add runs but Two more for Daniel Bowen and one apiece for Nadeem Ahmad and Patrick Phillips saw the visitors bowled out.

Both Bowens finished with three wickets each, while Aatif added a wicket to his run out in what was a successful afternoon in the field for Whitchurch.

Lewis snaffled two catches as he continued his impressive form while Elliott Bowen also took a catch.

In reply, Matthew Batkin made a solid start reaching 10 from 20 balls but he was first to go when the score was on 13, caught behind by Austin Rowley off Jamie Griffiths’s bowling.

The visiting opening bowler was in fine form, firing through Whitchurch’s top order as Ed Watson-Jones was out for a fourth ball duck.

Elliott Bowen added to his good work with a quickfire 17 from 24 balls but he was yet another batsman who failed to build on his good start.

Griffiths struck as he bowled Elliott before removing opener Salim Ahmed for 20 from 34 balls, trapping him lbw to leave Whitchurch 59-4 and in a mild panic.

However, before St Georges could make their hosts anymore nervous, Phillips’s 19 from 17 balls steadied the ship to take the score to 82-5 before he was removed by Livingstone.

Ahmad and Vansh Bajaj saw Whitchurch over the line for the fourth-wicket win.

Meanwhile, the second XI were well beaten at Wellington fourth XI on Saturday.

Skipper Mike Ellis inserted the hosts and they were able to post a challenging total of 176-9 from their 45 overs.

This was thanks in main to William Casey-Fitton’s excellent half-century before he was stumped by Dave Weaver off Ellis’s bowling.

He was given support by Harrison Coalbran who finished with 32 before he was also dismissed by Ellis.

Jack Batkin was the pick of the away bowling with 3-32 while there were two wickets apiece for Ellis, Molly Batkin and Sam Appleby.

In reply, Whitchurch fell well short of their target despite many of their batters making solid starts in their innings.

Opener Billy Ward’s 30 before he was dismissed by Andy Parkyn was the pick of the innings with support of 21 from Tom Griffin before Whitchurch were bowled out for 144 in the 34th over.

On Sunday, the third XI’s clash with Bridgnorth’s fourth XI was conceded by the away side.