Bailey and Williams rebuild well after Alam’s early fireworks

Leamington made it two Birmingham League Division One wins from two with a comprehensive 47-run success over a strong Moseley side.
David Bailey pushes the ball away on the off-side on his way to making 53 for Leamington 1sts. MHLC-04-05-13 Leamington CC May16David Bailey pushes the ball away on the off-side on his way to making 53 for Leamington 1sts. MHLC-04-05-13 Leamington CC May16
David Bailey pushes the ball away on the off-side on his way to making 53 for Leamington 1sts. MHLC-04-05-13 Leamington CC May16

Having lost the toss and been asked to bat first on a dry wicket, Leamington got off to a flying start as Shahbaz Alam blitzed three fours off Warwickshire professional Recardo Gordon’s opening over.

This set the tone for the opening exchanges as Alam, alongside 15-year-old Jack Bewick, batted aggressively to take Leamington to 67.

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The miserly Watts (3-23) replaced the erratic Gordon and quickly removed Bewick for a promising 25, including six boundaries.

After a brief rain interruption, Watts and former Leamington player Awan (2-35) set about applying some pressure on Leamington’s middle order, removing Wigley, the dangerous Alam for 47, Hopkins and Magill in quick succession to leave Leamington in a spot of bother at 124 for five.

However, David Bailey and skipper Rob Williams set about rebuilding the innings in a vital stand of 81 to rescue their innings.

Williams fell first for 34 before Bailey went on to make a well-crafted 53.

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Leamington eventually closed the innings on 254, leaving Moseley a revised 190 to win off 28 overs.

In reply, Moseley limped to 13 for three in the face of accurate bowling from Leamington’s opening pair of Paul Rowe (1-24) and Tom Warner (2-34) .

Huw Jones and Abdul Hafeez took the score to 105 for three but the introduction of Alam firmly swung the match back in Leamington’s favour as he removed Hafeez for 27 and then Jones for an excellent 67 off 56 balls.

Alam took two further wickets to finish with four for 17 from four overs.

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There were also two wickets for Faisal Khalid (2-23) as Moseley were bowled out for 142 with two overs remaining.

It was a familiar story for Leamington’s second string as they suffered a second defeat of the season at Moseley.

Leamington batted first on a good track and, once again, failed to take advantage of a good start.

Opener Richard Swann continued his fine early-season form, making 42, as did the returning Jim Gethins, but their dismissals heralded a middle-order collapse.

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Captain Jason Butler rallied the tail to some effect, making 38, while Dan McCarthy’s 24 not out ensured Leamington notched exactly 200 off their 50 overs.

Leamington’s youthful openers, Will Field (2-80) and Paul Lawrence (2-38), made early inroads, knocking over three of Moseley’s top order in quick time.

However, Leamington were unable to stem the flow of runs despite using seven bowlers, with Field, in particular, proving expensive.

Ali Awan’s 62 was the lynchpin of the Birmingham side’s response and he found sufficient support to ensure Moseley crossed the winning line in some style with four wickets and almost nine overs to spare.