BOARS captain Mark Evenson is urging his side to claim victory in his absence against Brockhampton on Saturday (noon), after Bromsgrove earned successive wins for the first team this season at Barnards Green.
The 49-run victory put an end to six-straight defeats against the Malvern side, moving Bromsgrove up to sixth in Birmingham & District Premier Division Two in the process.
Evenson said his side can look up and aim to catch up with the sides ahead of them, in what appears to be a promising end to the season.
“I’d like to think we’re capable of making it three in a row this weekend,” he said.
“There’s no Tom Hill, Ryan Pedley or myself this weekend, but with Alex Wilkinson, Alex Milton and Freddie Fellows – making his first-team debut – replacing us, we’ve got plenty of quality to win it.
“Brockhampton are struggling, it would be great to close the gap on the sides above and end on a high.”
Deciding to bat first, Bromsgrove lost Ryan Pedley from the second ball of the game, but then recovered in style thanks to a partnership of 166 between Jayden Levitt (78) and Ashley Newfield (121).
An equally impressive stand of 139 between Newfield and the unbeaten Deon Patel (102no) then aided the cause to take the Boars to 305-3.
Barnards Green bowler Jack Mackintosh (3-49) took two successive dismissals to end Newfield’s top-scoring stint at the crease, followed by Alistair Hickman (0) from the very next ball.
Ending their innings on 315-4, the Boars put themselves in good stead to earn a victory, one which looked even more likely when reducing the visitors to 31-2.
A third-wicket partnership of 130 between Ryan Tongue (132) and Mahaaz Ahmed (52) put Barnards Green back into contention, with the latter being dismissed by top Bromsgrove bowler Jack Taylor (4-72).
The wickets began to tumble more frequently after Joe Crichard’s (10) dismissal by Taylor at 192-4, with Taylor Pugh (13) and Josh Blunt (5) both removed from the crease by Evenson.
Barnards Green talisman Tongue was bowled at 235-7 to finally put an end to his emphatic afternoon with six overs remaining.
Tongue’s dismissal was a key moment in the game, putting an end to the visitors’ momentum as Bromsgrove saw out victory.
The Boars captain was left delighted by the result, and lauded the top order for their batting efforts.
“We haven’t beaten them in a long time in the league, so it was a brilliant effort from the top order,” said Evenson.
“It was a two-paced wicket, we improved as the match went on but we thought the worst when Ryan [Pedley] was dismissed.
“Ashley [Newfield] and Deon [Patel] set the tone, and helped us post over 300 runs for the first time in a while.”
