BROMYARD V BARNARDS GREEN

BARNARDS Green visited Worcestershire County League division two leaders Bromyard on Saturday and took a major step in their push towards promotion.

Ed Oliver won the toss and asked the Green to bat first on a good-looking pitch. Gary Lewis and Rich Williams made a solid start before Lewis was bowled by Hine. Daniel Flynn crashed three superb straight boundaries before he too was bowled, this time by Saeed, with one that kept a bit low.

Kevin Golder also reached double figures before he fell leg before to Kyte, again to a ball keeping lower than expected. This bought Williams and skipper Chris Smedley together. The pair played with great confidence as they found the boundary regularly and paced the Green's innings superbly.

Both passed well-deserved 50's and started to increase the pace before Williams was caught on the boundary for a superb 76. Tim Clarke then joined Smedley and was unluckily run-out backing-up. Smedley soon followed, again going for a big hit, perishing leg before. Adam Binks and Paul Drinkwater then came together and the pair were able to increase the innings momentum. Binks managed to clear the boundary on a number of occasions in a brisk 32 and Drinkwater played some elegant shots, remaining not out.

The Green closed their innings on an impressive 287, an excellent team performance, with Williams and Smedley particularly outstanding.

In reply, Bromyard started well with Tim Williams' first five balls costing seven runs. However, with the final ball of his over Williams beat Matt Bullock's defences to bowl him and leave Bromyard 7-1.

Bromyard tried to kick-start their innings but accurate bowling from Williams and Chris Harrison, and some superb fielding, kept runs at a premium. Harrison then got his reward, clean bowling Ashley Bullock, to another ball which kept low.

Duncan Bell, in his first game of the year, was then introduced to the attack. Bowling with lively pace and sharp movement, he immediately caused the batsmen problems. Saeed then edged a Bell away-swinger to be superbly caught, one-handed, by the diving Binks. Bell struck again soon after, thanks to a superb catch at third slip from Golder.

The tumble of wickets continued as skipper Oliver edged Flynn to Binks to leave Bromyard in disarray at 30-5. Williams was then re-introduced as Smedley juggled his bowlers in the searing heat. He soon cleaned bowled Hine, Dave Kyte followed, edging Williams to give Binks another catch at the wicket. Paul Drinkwater came into the attack and took the Green to the brink of victory with two more wickets, combining his excellent flight with accuracy.

Tim Williams came back on for a third spell and finished the match, trapping the Bromyard batsman leg before, to finish with 4-22.

The Green took the maximum 24 points and move 15 points clear of Bromyard at the top of the league.

Tomorrow (Saturday) the Green host Harborne, a fellow promoted side last year, looking to continue their excellent run of form.