Sood falls short of ton but lays a solid platform for Warwick

Warwick sit 35 points clear at the top of Warwickshire Division Five after a comfortable win at Moseley 3rds.
Wanderers' Barrington Kelly eases the ball past Warwick 2nds wicket-keeper Luke Webb off the bowling of Joe Poole. Picture: Morris TroughtonWanderers' Barrington Kelly eases the ball past Warwick 2nds wicket-keeper Luke Webb off the bowling of Joe Poole. Picture: Morris Troughton
Wanderers' Barrington Kelly eases the ball past Warwick 2nds wicket-keeper Luke Webb off the bowling of Joe Poole. Picture: Morris Troughton

Following on from eight successive lost tosses, Warwick skipper Matt Warren managed to win his second in two weeks and elected to bat.

Warwick’s opening duo of Adrian Passey and Graeme Burke were unable to get the visitors off to their usual solid start as Passey was dismissed caught behind for five.

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Burke (27) looked good but ended up chipping the ball to mid-wicket, leaving Warwick on a shaky 37 for two.

A quality partnership between Naresh Airody (53) and James Sood settled any nerves, with Airody making the most of his chance to impress after his elevation from the second team.

Airody manoeuvred the ball around the ground well and was looking set for a large score until he was dismissed lbw.

Warren ran himself out first ball to leave Warwick wobbling again on 122 for four.

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However, Sood came to the fore, dominating a 47-run stand with Rajan Bhatti (8), in turn passing his skipper as the division’s leading runscorer.

Sood looked on course for his third Saturday 1st XI century of the season until, on 74, he was caught one-handed on the deep mid-on boundary by Rhys Davies, a feat that left even the fielder himself in disbelief.

Late contributions from Joshua Osborne (13) and Abhishek Sharma (10) got Warwick to an under par but very defendable 224 all out from 49.3 overs.

On the resumption, the new-ball seam partnership of Bhatti (2-26) and Osborne (2-41) got Warwick off to a great start, reducing Moseley to 31 for three.

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Leg-spin duo Anil Lohan (2-43) and Ashu Sharma (3-34) then put a squeeze on the scoring and as the run rate mounted, wickets tumbled to reduce Mosleley to 122 for nine.

Last-pair Davis and Vikash Patel threw the bat to get the home side to 150 before Abhishek Sharma took the final wicket in the fourth ball of his first over.

Warwick 2nds climbed to third in Division Nine East after a six-wicket win at home to Coventry West Indian Wanderers 2nds.

After stand-in skipper Jon Davis lost the toss, Wanderers moved to 50 for the loss of one wicket inside the first ten overs.

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Skipper Barrington Kelly was then run out for 18 after good fielding from Rich Ingram and with his dismissal the game swung Warwick’s way.

The introduction of 16-year-old leg-spinner Ed Hare (5-13) and Richard Rudnicki (3-22) then put Warwick in total control as Wanderers were bowled out for 91 in 21 overs.

In reply, Warwick got off to a steady start with openers Davis and Alex Wood (28) putting on 38 for the first wicket.

Warwick then lost another three quick wickets before Pete Wood saw Warwick home by six wickets thanks to an unbeaten 38.