BOARS captain Mark Evenson says Bromsgrove can start looking up the table after claiming a winning draw and 17 points on the board against Wolverhampton, ahead of a trip to league leaders Ombersley (Saturday, noon).
On a weekend that was depleted by rainfall, Bromsgrove’s fixture was one of only three matches played in Birmingham & District Premier Division Two.
Batting their way to a 153-5 total from their 24 overs, the hosts were able to restrict Wolverhampton to a 74-5 score in reply to earn the bulk of the points.
It means the Boars were able to close the gap on sides above them, while further distancing themselves from the relegation places.
Evenson says it has been a fruitful month for his side where results have been concerned, and has reason to believe that Bromsgrove could be set for a strong finish to the season.
“Looking at the last four of five weeks, we’ve taken about 80 points, which, when you consider we probably took seven or eight weeks at the start of the season to reach that total, is fantastic,” he said.
“It’s been a really good few weeks for us points wise, so we can start looking forward instead of over our shoulders.
“I have hope we can be challenging for the top four of five places at the end of the season, that would be great.”
The upturn in form has come at a perfect time for the Boars ahead of their visit to Ombersley, but after already claiming a win against them back in May, the Bromsgrove captain is confident of making it two wins from two.
“We had a good game at our place, but they’ve still got the likes of Liam Gwynne, George Baldwin, Uday Kaul, who can threaten us,” said Evenson.
“But there’s no reason why we can’t get another good result there.”
Evenson confirms that Ashley Newfield will be missing from Saturday’s encounter, with Ryan Pedley being reintroduced to the side after impressing during a spell with the Seconds.
In last weekend’s game, the visitors elected to field first, forcing the Boars to bat on a sticky wicket.
Despite suffering a difficult start in the damp conditions, losing Alistair Hickman (0) from the first ball and Jayden Levitt (9) shortly after, Bromsgrove recovered through Newfield (16) and Alex Milton (57), who put on a partnership of 22.
Milton then took charge of the innings by batting his way to a quickfire century from 44 balls faced, and with number five Deon Patel (49) also on form, the pair were able to form a fourth wicket partnership of 84 to put the Boars in a promising position.
Patel was gone by the fifth wicket, but Bromsgrove had done enough to set out their stall for the share of the points.
Tom Russell (4-22) then skittled out the first four Wolverhampton batsmen as the visitors slipped to a 35-4 score in the 12th over.
Wolverhampton were able to recover to see out their innings and deny Bromsgrove an outright victory, but it was a performance that no doubt left an impression on Evenson.
“It was a really positive result, especially as it rained around the league,” he said.
“It’s 17 points against a top side, to bowl them out with just 24 overs would have been a tall order, but we’ve managed to back up our win from the previous game.”
