Express & Star

Howzat for a show from Todd Henderson?

Todd Henderson certainly led by example when he stepped into the lead role for Pelsall at the weekend.

Published

The all-rounder took on the captaincy duties in the absence of skipper Dan Pennell and produced a stunning all-round display to see his side to a 109-run victory over Cannock in the South Staffs County League Premier Division.

Henderson has been a high-class performer in the league for a number of years with both bat and ball, but he raised the bar on Saturday by stroking his way to a century and then claiming eight wickets.

“I took seven wickets in a game last season when I took over from Dan, so maybe he should go away a bit more,” joked Henderson.

“It was just one of the days where everything went right. It was just mad, really.

“It was my best personal performance and from what people were saying at the club, I don’t think anyone has done anything like this for Pelsall before.

“We had needed someone to bat for a while because we have lost some games we should have won. Fortunately, myself and Omair put together a decent partnership which helped us get to a good score.

“Then we managed to pick up a few wickets early. Their skipper, Adam Benton, batted really well alongside their overseas, but once we got the overseas out it opened up an end and we managed to finish the job off.”

Henderson (117) and Omair Farooq shared a 179-run stand for the third wicket as Pelsall made 271-6 – Ravan Chahal picked up 4-57 for Cannock.

Henderson’s heroics with the ball (8-49) then saw the visitors dismissed for 162 in the 47th over.

The victory lifted Pelsall up to sixth in the standings, but just 16 points behind leaders C&R Hawks, going into Saturday’s trip to Hammerwich.

Brewood are sitting second in the table despite having to settle for a winning draw from their clash with Milford Hall.

Contributions all down the order saw Brewood make 226-9 with seven players passing 20 but no-one topping the 30 that George Nock and Nick Wright made.

Ejaz Nawaz was the main reason no batters got away as he returned figures of 6-43 from 15 overs.

Milford quickly slipped to 25-3 in reply but dug in to avoid defeat as they finished on 170-8.

Opener Aaron Afford top scored with 47 while Sahal Malvernkar made 37.

Daniel Smith, Tim Maxfield, Will Marsh and Dave Wedge all took two wickets each.

Reigning champions Beacon made it two wins on the spin thanks to a comfortable five-wicket success at Lichfield.

An impressive bowling display from Beacon saw them roll their hosts out for 99.

Spinners Dan Vernon and Ben Robinson led the way with figures of 3-31 and 3-32 respectively while Ollie Green and Jason Swan shared the other four wickets.

Opener Ash Hartshorn set Beacon on their way with 37 before an unbeaten 30 from Vernon completed the job.

Beacon, who welcome Brewood on Saturday, are seventh but only 20 points behind table-topping C&R Hawks.

Fordhouses picked up the lion’s share of the points following their draw with high-flying Penkridge.

Alex McChristie top scored with 69, Russell Thompson made 44 and skipper Chris Guest added a quickfire 38 as Fordhouses ended their 50 overs on 228-8. Samuel Smith was the pick of the Pemkridge attack with figures of 3-37, while there were two wickets apiece for Kashif Hussain and Mohammed Ishtiaq.

Penkridge appeared to be on course for victory when Abdullah Awan (65) and Rana Hassan (50) took them past 100 with just one wicket down.

But an impressive Fordhouses fightback saw them claim the winning draw as Adam Peat, with 4-45, and Zak Shah, who took 3-47 from 15 overs, restricted Penkridge to 209-8.

Wombourne slipped down to fifth in the table following a second successive defeat.

A disappointing performance with the bat proved costly as they went down by six wickets away to Whittington.

Liam Ward-Armstrong (31) and Ben Hudson (30) were the only batsmen to reach 30 as Wombourne fell for 146, which included a spell of four wickets falling for one run.

Opener Daniel Wilks (38) and Greg Hunt (42 not out) then guided Whittington over the line.