ASTWOOD BANK’S hopes of avoiding the Birmingham League Division Two wooden spoon look increasingly forlorn after another disappointing weekend.
The tense two-wicket defeat at title-chasing C&R Hawks left Bank 33 points adrift at the bottom with six matches remaining, the first of which is Saturday’s visit of Fordhouses.
Opener Rob West made 41, Tom Underhill (27) and Connor Adams (27no) as Bank were restricted to 175-7 off their 50 overs.
The hosts also found life tricky with the bat and, at 46-4 and 143-7, Bank had them on the ropes, but a superb unbeaten 76 off just 74 balls from Saqib Akbar proved the difference between the sides as he led the home side to their target in the 34th over.
Joel Haslam took 3-44, Tom Harris 3-40 and Josh Baker 2-19.
STUDLEY moved up into ninth place in Warwickshire League Division One thanks to a 40-run victory at lowly Pak Shaheen on Saturday.
The visitors were dismissed for just 144 but the Coventry side could only muster 104 in reply and the result saw Studley leapfrog their hosts.
Chris Moss top-scored for Studley with 34 before Christopher Walder (3-30), Charlie Bass (2-14), Greg Moore (2-18) and Andy Rhodes (2-32) all contributed to the visitors’ successful bowling effort.
Studley, now 11 points above the bottom two, host fourth-placed Fillongley on Saturday.
