A STUNNING performance by Rheedyi Amin ensured Barnt Green lifted their first silverware of the season, beating Walsall by eight wickets to win the Graham Williamson Trophy.
Walsall’s 223-8 total was beaten in the 31st over, much down to Amin (95) and the second-wicket partnership of 146 with Peter Scott (53).
Silverware helped erase the disappointment of losing to Moseley by 89 runs in Birmingham & District Premier Division One and provides Green with motivation to hunt for further success in the second half of the season.
At Walsall, the hosts stumbled to 19-2, but quickly recovered thanks to the effective partnership of 92 between Dannyjo Cox (59) and Billy J Cox (51).
Both were dismissed by Darrel Williams (2-41), with Andrew Sutton catching the former, and later taking two wickets of his own.
The Green needed a solid start to stand a chance of lifting the cup and got just that when Edward Pollock (47) and Peter Scott (53no) made 61 for the opening partnership, before the latter established the remarkable stand with number three Amin.
Although Amin was gone at 207-2, the top scorer had done more than enough to help his side, allowing Scott and Dominic Harding to finish the job and ensure Barnt Green won the trophy with just over nine overs to spare.
In Saturday’s league fixture at Moseley, a score of 98 from Imandeep Kang proved too much for Green to handle, being bowled out for 173.
They were unable to match the stunning 262-7 score recorded by the Moseley batsmen, with Tom Brown (41) top-scoring for the visitors.
After winning the toss and fielding first, Barnt Green initially found success when reducing the hosts to a 44-4, after dismissing Bhavik Patel (0) from the second ball, before removing Asim Shoaib (13), Kishen Patel (0) and Ben Griffin (24).
Jugdip Singh Nandra (18) was bowled at 89-5, prior to the stunning partnership between Kang and Phagura that blew away the visitors.
Sutton took 3-54 but an impressive batting display was required.
Zain Ul-Hassan (36) and William Baker (26) chipped in with useful totals to add to opener Brown’s top score, but the lack of support from the remaining batsmen always made it a struggle.
Barnt Green host Shifnal on Saturday in the league, before visiting Shrewsbury on Sunday in the ECB National Club Championship Group 7 final.
