Weekend 23/24 May 2009 WEEKEND.

Penkridge 1st XI (180-1 from 34 overs) beat Wednesbury CC (177 all out from exactly 50 overs)
Penkridge 2nd XI (201 from ?? overs) got a winning draw against Wednesbury CC (198 from 50 overs)
Penkridge 3rd XI (159 all out from 49.5 overs) beat Pelsall CC (102 all out from 36.5 overs)

A beautiful weekend saw all 3 Penkridge Cricket Club teams perform well.

The 1st XI, at home to Wednesbury CC, won the toss and put Wedenesbury in to bat. Wickets fell quickly and Wednesbury were reduced to 44-6 after some tight bowling from Gary Pope (5-36).

Wednesbury rallied slightly to post a reasonably respectable final score of 177 all out, their final wicket falling with the last ball of the innings.

Penkridge batted extremely well, knocking off the runs for the loss of only a single wicket with Ronnie Hassan finding his scoring boots again with a 96 not out from 96 balls and Paul Szewczyk continuing his excellent run of form with a composed 53 from 83 balls.

The 2nd XI, in the reverse fixture, were away to Wednesbury. Having lost the toss, they were put in to bat and were promptly reduced to 33-5. An early finish seemed to be beckoning but an incredibly composed batting display from Rob Lawrence, with partnerships of 90 with Pete Parnaby (17) and 67 with Richard James (35) guiding Penkridge to a respectable total of 201. Rob was eentually dismissed on 104 but the damage had been done.

In reply, the home side started steadily but thanks to a tight bowling spell from Nick Giles (15-1-34-2) Wednesbury soon found themselves below the required run rate. Opener Dan Slater (72) and skipper Stuart Brotherton (56*) threatened to wrestle the game away from Penkridge. With four runs needed for a tie from the final ball, Wednesbury could only manage a single, resulting in a winning draw for Penkridge.

The 3rd XI hosted Pelsall CC at the unusual home venue of Stafford Grammar. Penkridge lost the toss and were promptly put in to bat on a very wet, soft wicket.

The abysmal batting track took its toll on the Penkridge batsmen, with some very erractic bounce and some poor shot selection taking care of the top order. Tom Morris (23) was the pick of the early batsmen but Penkridge were quickly reduced to 78-6. A 6th wicket stand of 43 from Luke Sheppard (18) and Martin Dawson (27) steadied the ship a little and late runs from Barry Hearsey and Ant Hartwell saw Penkridge post a total of 159 from 49.5 overs.

With the beautiful weather, the wicket had dried considerably by the time Pelsall came in to bat and opener Dix (40) took full advantage with some powerful straight drives. Penkridge kept the pressure on and superb bowling from Ant Hartwell (15-4-40-4) and Barry Hearsey (12-4-31-4) saw the Pelsall wickets fall cheaply. Their final score of 102 all out meant a full 25 points for Penkridge.