Club Friendlies

Willoughby v Southam

Willoughby 135 all out
Southam 137 for 2 (19.4 overs)

Southam won by 8 wickets

Saturday's season opener at The Green saw visitors Southam again prove too strong for Willoughby.

Batting first on the batsmen-friendly artifical, Willoughby were bowled out for only 135. Olly Johnson on debut impressed making a useful half-century and with Martin Nichols adding 22, they proved the top scorers for the hosts.

In reply, Southam cantered to victory requiring just under half of their allotted overs to reach their target, losing only two wickets in the process for a comfortable success.

Century blast from Abbas not enough to defeat Newbold

Willoughby v Newbold-on-Avon

Willoughby 210 all out
Newbold-on-Avon 214 for 4 (38 overs)

Newbold-on-Avon won by 6 wickets

24 hours saw a more evenly-balanced contest as visitors Newbold edged a useful runout for both sides despite a century from Willoughby's Abbas Mohammed.

The hosts batted first and got off to flying start with opener Abbas Mohammed crashing a ton to open the season. He made 126 before eventually being caught in the deep, this after hitting some 12 sixes and six boundaries; his ton coming up inside 17 overs. Once he departed, the visitors managed to apply the brakes to the Willoughby score, although the hosts did reach a useful 210 all out at the close. Cheney taking four wickets for Newbold.

In reply, Newbold began well with openers Virdee and Huw Evans, the former the first to fall for 32 when looking set for a useful score. Willoughby then applied pressure with the ball to peg back the run-rate, but once Evans was removed for 35 with quick bit of wicketkeeping, the Scott brothers of Craig and Jason joined together and settled into their stride to ultimately take the game Newbold's way. Craig top scored with an unbeaten 62, with Jason falling for 48 in the latter stages of the chase, as Newbold reached 214 for 4.

The Willoughby wickets were shared between Gregson, Henderson, Quinney and Udin, whilst there were impressive senior debuts for Daniel Withers and Josh Meahan who both gave good all-round displays, particularly with the ball.