Seager and Donald put the boot in as Wardens remain in pole

Nick Seager throws his bat at a wide one on his way to 62 to lay the platform for Kenilworth Wardens victory over Wellington. MHLC-08-06-13 Wardens Wellington Jun38

Seager reprised his fine knock against Leamington the previous Saturday with an equally powerful 62 before Donald played the role of finisher to perfection.

His classy unbeaten 60 steered the hosts past their 220-run target with 15 overs remaining, ensuring Wardens collected the maximum-point return which keeps them at the head of the Birmingham League Division One table.

Wellington opener Steve Lamb suffered the indignity of being dropped off the day’s first two deliveries, before being caught behind from the third.

After slipping to seven for two, the visitors were reliant on two excellent middle-order partnerships in order to post a competitive total.

Neil Edwards (46) and Worcestershire keeper Mike Johnson (33) added 82 for third wicket before Sitanshu Kotak (3-50) and James Jordan (2-36) further reduced the visitors to 94 for five.

The giant figure of Wellington skipper Wendell Wagner took charge from this point to finish with a steady 91-ball unbeaten 58.

He defied Dan Wood’s best spell of the season (2-51), to add 71 for the fifth wicket with Ross Aucott (39).

A target of 220 seemed well within Wardens’ compass on a superb Glasshouse Park pitch, and once Seager had blasted his way to a 44-ball 62, with 11 fours and two sixes, a home win became even more probable.

Kotak joined the hard-hitting opener to add 52 for the third wicket, before playing the anchor role in the match-clinching 83-run fifth-wicket partnership with Donald.

The Indian ace finished with an unbeaten 48, while his skipper found the boundary nine times in his 59-ball unbeaten 60.

Robin de Regt’s 60 provided the day’s only highlight as Wardens 2nd XI crashed to a heavy nine-wicket defeat at Kings Heath in Division Two.

The opening five overs of the respective innings perfectly encapsulated the match - Wardens staggered to two for two before the hosts’ response raced to 42 without loss.

With solid support from James Ray (29) and Dan Phillips (28), De Regt, whose 60 came from 113 balls with nine fours, rebuilt Wardens’ innings to good effect.

However, they then crashed from 120 for three to 160 all out as Parminder Bhomra grabbed four for 39.

Any hopes of defending the sub-standard total on  a typically flat Alcester  Road pitch soon disappeared as Bhomra’s unbeaten 74,  plus a powerful 63 from skipper Paul Johns, steered the hosts to victory in only 28.3 overs.

 Turn to page 69 for a report on Wardens 4ths against Kenilworth.