Burghill lifted out of relegation zone after beating Hagley

BURGHILL, Tillington and Weobley came out fighting and avenged their previous weekend’s defeat to beat Hagley by seven wickets.

Hagley won the toss and batted under a mottled sky at the PAF cricket ground.

They were soon in deep trouble at 15-4. Opener Alex Millard was run out by some smart fielding by Barney Morgan, attempting a second run.

Then JD Lewis started the rout, with two wickets from two balls. First up was the dangerous Jonathan Miles, who was LBW for a golden duck and the same for Henry Deacy, who was comprehensively bowled.

The Durban swinger, Reece Thomas, got in on the act, trapping captain Daniel Giles LBW for eight.

Will Homer and Javon Grosvenor tried to repair the early damage, but the pressure was unrelenting from the opening quicks.

Wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals and Hagley were all out for 68 in the 23rd over.

Lewis had his best return for the club, finishing with 6-33 from 11 unchanged overs.  Reece Thomas supported him well from the other end, bagging 2-25 from his 11.1 overs.

Wicket keeper Tyler Garrard did not concede a bye and he broke the wickets in the two run outs. He still had a lot of work to do from the throws but he made it look effortless.

The Burgs were back out on the chase after a 10-minute break but Hagley’s 68 to defend, was never going to be enough, and so it proved.

The runs were knocked off in 17.4 overs for the loss of three wickets, to give the Burgs a seven-wicket win.

The win lifted the team out of the relegation zone, to eighth in the table.  Only 21 points separate the bottom half, in what is turning out to be an enthralling season.

The Burgs are on the road next Saturday at Chaddesley Corbett.