BERKSWELL have been crowned Birmingham League Premier Division champions for the second time in three years following their 117-run victory over already relegated Wolverhampton.
After getting the better of title rivals Knowle & Dorridge the previous weekend, Berkswell only needed down Wolverhampton on Saturday to secure the league title and they did it in emphatic fashion.
Ateeq Javid (77) and Nick James (68) established a sound platform after Berkswell won the toss and elected to bat first.
At the end of the 40th over the score was 197-3.
James was dismissed soon after but a blitz from Tom Lewis enabled his side to reach 334-6 at the end of Berkswell’s allotted 50 overs.
Lewis blasted eight fours and nine sixes in an astonishing innings of 104 off 58 balls.
His second 50 came from 13 balls, hitting 28 from an over bowled by Zen Malik.
Among the carnage, Babar Khan took 3-55 against his former club.
A feature of the Wolverhampton innings was a disciplined 85 from 120 balls from Aneesh Kapil.
However, facing such a large target, Wolverhampton folded to 217 all out after he was dismissed by Mohammed Ahmed (4-31).
Malik hit 40 as he and Kapil added 78 for the second wicket but Javid’s 3-50 pegged Wolverhampton back before Ahmed finished them off.
Ostler said: “We were absolutely over the moon to win the league title and on the face of things we probably deserved it.
“To win this league you need a little bit of luck and after we had our first match of the season rained off followed by close defeats to West Bromwich and Shrewsbury, we gained some real momentum once we got our first win.
“We’ve kept battling and we got crucial victories at just the right time.
“Overall it has been a successful season for the whole club and we’re already looking forward to next season which will be just as challenging.”
Meanwhile, Knowle & Dorridge had to settle for the runners-up spot and ended their season with a three-wicket defeat to near neighbours Dorridge.
None of the K&D batsmen reached 40 as Iftikhar Ahmad took 3-53 for Dorridge who were led to victory by an unbeaten 112 from Gary Hawkins.
He hit 15 fours and batted throughout the innings to steer Dorridge to safety.
George Worker (3-38) and Scott Stenning (3-59) were pick of the K&D bowlers.
Jack Grundy finished the season as the league’s top wicket-taker with 56 while batsman Scott Stenning topped the run charts with 824.
