A SUPERB display with the ball from Alastair Pollock helped Barnt Green clinch victory at title-chasing Knowle and Dorridge CC in the Birmingham League Premier Division.
Pollock picked up five wickets as the hosts fell for 229, despite the best efforts of Alexander Keath, Sam Reddish and Ben Brookes, who all hit half centuries.
Green did not make it easy for themselves as William Baker, Matthew Lamb and Tom Banton failed to score a single run. But Andrew Sutton top-scored with 52 to steer them to victory.
Pollock ended up with most of the plaudits, but it was Luke Radford who took the opening wickets. He bowled Alex Phillips before removing Dominic Harding, thanks to a smart catch from Sam Cheshire.
Pollock did not have to wait too long until he got his opening wicket as he dismissed David Myers, with Cheshire once again plucking the ball out of the air.
It then turned into the Pollock show as he secured the prized wicket of opener Keath (54) before Nathan Roberts was dismissed for one.
Reddish did all he could to stop the rot, but John Price became Pollock’s next victim and then Gareth Davies found the hands of Ed Pollock.
After making his half century, Reddish came unstuck, with Pollock completing his five-for. He finished with 11-3-31-5.
Ben Brookes (53) and Jack Grundy (17) dug in, but Green eventually got Knowle and Dorridge all out for 229.
The Worcestershire side appeared to be in the driving seat, but a loss of four early wickets threatened to derail their bid for victory.
William Mottram uprooted Baker’s stumps before Lamb and Banton were both dismissed for a duck.
Mottram also claimed the wicket of Pollock, who had reached 40, and that was the same mark Cheshire made before he was removed.
This left Green on 97-5, but thanks to some dogged battling from Radford and Andrew Sutton they managed to stop their innings from spiralling out of control.
Radford eventually fell after making 34 off 25 balls, which included three fours and two sixes.
After making his half century, Sutton also went shortly after Pollock and Tom Brown were removed.
But his hard work had taken Green to the brink of victory, so it was left to Robert Wigley and Williams to score the remaining runs. And they rose to the challenge as the visitors reached the total with just under three overs to spare.
