Birmingham Khokni 227 for 3 in 40.0 overs (Shak 8-1-25-0, Brown 6-1-27-0, Rizwan 8-0-45-0, Adnan 8-1-58-1, Williams 8-1-49-1, Badger 2-0-15-1) FOW: 92 121 123
Kings Heath 196 all out in 39.3 overs Jattin Patel ct midwicket 42 (64 balls, 1x4) Rizwan ct keeper 26 (24 balls, 1x4, 2x6) Bernard O'Connor ct slip 3 (5 balls) Matt Wright bowled 68 (55 balls, 3x4, 2x6) Ben Jones stumped 20 (52 balls) Shak Syed bowled 11 (7 balls, 1x4, 1x6) Adnan Ali bowled 1 (4 balls) Josh Williams stumped 10 (11 balls) Gregg Arrand run out 7 (4 balls) Adam Badger bowled 4 (8 balls) Sean Brown 1 not out (3 balls) FOW: 54 62 84 146 154 162 173 187 187 196
BIRMINGHAM KHOKNI WON BY 31 RUNS
The final league game of the season saw the two teams in joint first place playing each other for the league title. Kings Heath needed 228 from the 40 overs available to them, and got off to a perfect start, with openers Jattin Patel (42) and Rizwan (26) putting on 54 for the first wicket, and keeping up with the required rate of 5.70 per over. Despite a steady 64 run partnership between Ben Jones and Matt Wright, characterised by Matt showing the required urgency, hitting five boundaries in his 68 including two sixes, and first team keeper Ben Jones failing to find the rope at all during his 52 ball stay at the crease, meandering along at an individual strike rate of 2.30 runs per over. At 146 for 3, the team still needed nearly 10 runs per over, and at the fall of the seventh wicket, this has soon escalated to over 12 an over. Predictably a quick succession of wickets meant Kings Heath were bowled out 31 runs short of the target, Adam Badger the final wicket to fall, bowled with only three balls of the match remaining, awarding Khokni the Division title. Earlier Birmingham Khokni batted first and posted a huge total of 227 for 3 in their 40 overs, the opposition batsmen benefitting from five dropped catches and numerous misfields. Shak Syed and Sean Brown were relatively economical, but the change bowlers suffered the brunt of the damage, Adnan Ali conceding 20 runs off the 40th over despite having nine men on the boundary – two fours and two sixes. The momentum finished firmly on the side of Birmingham Khokni, and Kings Heath never fully recovered from the onslaught.
