OMBERSLEY captain Arti Fiaz says he will not be taking Birmingham League Premier Division basement side Kidderminster lightly this weekend.
Third placed Ombersley will be hoping to claim their fourth win in five games on Saturday before they enter the 55-over win-lose-draw format for the next couple of months.
Kidderminster have lost all four of their opening games of the season but Fiaz has already warned his players they cannot afford any slip-ups if they want to be in with a chance of staying at the top with league leaders Knowle & Dorridge and second placed Berkswell.
Fiaz, who was away last Saturday for Ombersley’s seven-wicket victory over local rivals Barnt Green, is to return to the squad but Worcestershire’s Brett D’Oliveira is missing due to county duties.
Overseas signing Uday Kaul, who was part of the Kings XI Punjab IPL team in 2008, is also in line to make his debut.
“This weekend is a classic scenario of where we cannot afford to slip-up against a side near the bottom of the table,” Fiaz said.
“We have got off to a good start with three wins out of four and our only defeat was to Berkswell who we expect to be right at the top again this year.
“However, with Berkswell losing last weekend it has put us right in the mix and their defeat to Knowle & Dorridge proves that anybody can be beaten on any given day.
“We targeted four out of five wins before we moved to the 55-over format and I’m confident of achieving that this weekend.”
Ombersley’s derby game against Barnt Green on Saturday was reduced to 40 overs before play even got underway due to the rain.
And after 12 overs in the first innings, the fixture was further reduced by ten overs per side.
Ombersley put Green into bat after winning the toss where they bowled out the visitors for 104 with only Jamie Harrison (21) and Matthew Lamb (20) making any performances of note.
The hosts were then set a Duckworth Lewis target of 108 which they reached in the 22nd over for the loss of three wickets.
Herefordshire’s Liam Gwynne inspired the hosts to victory with an unbeaten 48 to inflict a second successive defeat on the Green.
“We were quite lucky to get the game on as a lot of fixtures in the league had been washed out,” Fiaz said.
“We managed to get them [Green] out for 104 and ticked off the runs we required quite comfortably.
“It was a good all round performance from what I heard.”
