CRICKET: HAMPTON & Solihull picked up a thrilling last-over win on the road to Coleshill in their latest Warwickshire Premier League clash.
The home side won the toss and decided to bat on a cool but overcast day at Memorial Park.
They quickly set about the Hampton & Solihull attack as Mo Fahim, 23, and Wajid Hussain put on 45 for the first wicket.
Fahim survived two dropped catches off Tariq Malakhel (39/2) before it was third time lucky for the same bowler.
Ash Howard (43/2) followed by trapping Kadam LBW first ball, and Malakhel picked up his second wicket with another successful LBW appeal.
The visitors switched to spin as Chris Hughes (21/1) and Tim Keyte (39/3) reduced Coleshill to 159/8.
Home skipper Sunny Ahmed remained solid, having progressed serenely to his half-century though.
The arrival of Ilyas Amin (39) saw the home side counter-attack – adding 80 for the 9th wicket in just 12 overs.
When Ahmed was dismissed it was for a well-made 95, before the last wicket fell the following over as Coleshill were bowled out for 247 in 49.4 overs.
For the second week in a row H&S found themselves in trouble early in their reply as Muhammed Naeem (30/2) accounted for both openers before Wajid Hussain (44/4) reduced the visitors to 50-3.
This brought together Johangir Khan and Matt James – who proceeded to first rebuild, before a blistering display of shot-making saw the pair compile a partnership of 154.
James was then dismissed for a game-changing 96 before Khan (63) followed two overs later, leaving the game finely balanced with 37 still required from the last 7 overs.
Zain Siddiqui, on debut, hit sixes in consecutive overs to relieve the pressure, before Hussain picked up his third and fourth wickets of the day, reducing the equation to 10 off the last two overs, with 4 wickets remaining.
Bowling the penultimate over, Fahim picked up the wicket of Derry, however back-to-back boundaries from Keyte saw the scores levelled, before Siddiqui (25*) hit the winning runs with two balls to go.
Next week sees H&S host league leaders Olton in a local derby at Marsh Lane.
