AUSSIE Jordan Renau signed off in style as Droitwich picked up a vital nine points by drawing their relegation clash with Pedmore on over the weekend.
In a match curtailed by rain to 27 overs per side on Saturday, Renau blazed 94 not out in his final game before heading back down under and leaves Spa needing only two points from their final fixture to secure their Worcestershire County League top-flight status.
With both sides battling the drop and desperate for points, the action in the Black Country didn’t get underway until 4.30pm and what transpired was a real run fest as batsmen capitalised on short boundaries and the bowlers’ struggles to grip a wet ball caused by the damp outfield.
After making a cautious start on losing the toss, Pedmore smashed 15 sixes in their 244-6 with Wasim Ashiq top-scoring with 62 and Paul Taylor and Ryan Beaumont chipping in with 46 and 40 respectively.
After returning the most respectable bowling figures, 2-45 from his nine overs, Max Young (4) was then dismissed in the first over of the Spa reply.
In his farewell appearance, Renau joined Ash Fearnall at the crease and the pair raced along at eight runs an over as the Pedmore bowlers experienced the same problems with the ball as their Droitwich counterparts had earlier.
The emerging Fearnall looked in fine form before he was caught behind for a quickfire 45, including several big sixes.
Making the most of the bowlers’ struggles, Renau kept the scoring rate rattling along and shared an unbroken third-wicket stand of 130 with veteran Paul Bryan (33 no) as the visitors closed on 188-2 and importantly avoided defeat.
The result means Droitwich have opened up a 23-point gap on second-bottom Belbroughton, who they meet at St Peter’s Fields on Saturday.
As they look forward to their final match at Bromyard, Droitwich Seconds continued their sparkling form of late with a crushing 98-run victory over Wormelow which leaves them in fifth place in the Division Two Second XI table.
The home side made 202-7 from their 42 overs with decent contributions from James King, Ash Walton and Carl Thomson, who later pulled off one of the catches of the season.
Following a cautious start, the visitors lost a flurry of wickets and then seemed happy to settle for the draw before youngster Jonny Keen grabbed three wickets in quick succession to clinch the win for Spa with two overs remaining.
