TANWORTH and Camp Hill made it a home and away double against 2023 champions Kineton with a 59-run victory at Tanworth Lane.
TACH skipper Andy Turnbull won the toss and opted to bat first on a warm day and dry pitch, although Kineton made an early breakthrough with Lee Gill (4) caught off the bowling of James Cooper (2-47).
Martin Perfect (25) and Turnbull built well for the home side, before Perfect fell to a sharp bit of work behind the stumps from George Wilcock off Alastair Loughton (2-38), with Turnbull caught at cover just after the drinks break, three runs short of a half-century, with the score 93-3.
Batting at four in place of Tom Smith, James Carey came to the crease and scored well but at the other end TACH suffered a mini collapse.
Loughton and Stephens both picked up their second wickets to account for Ben Bryant (4) and Oscar Newell (12), before some questionable running between the stumps saw Jake Wright (3) depart.
Star of the reverse fixture Dan Williams (30 not out) and Carey (32) took the home side beyond 150 before the latter became Cooper’s second victim.
Williams continued his fine form with a sparkling 30 not out, taking Tanworth to a total of 188-8 from their allocated 45 overs.
In reply, Kineton struggled to build any momentum as new-ball pair Bryant and Seth Jordan made early inroads into the defending champions batting lineup.
Jordan (2-35) had Peter Dobson (8) caught in the gully from a short ball while Bryant (3-33) trapped Adam Lane (7) LBW.
And James Cooper (12) then edged Turnbull at slip while Rory Geary-Heaton (3) was bowled to leave Kineton struggling at 43-4.
Tim Keyte trapped league-leading run scorer Wilcock (14) LBW before Oscar Newell (1-18) was the beneficiary of a sharp stumping from Nick Sale to see the back of Ben Harris (15).
From 66-6, Isaac Rowles (24) and Sam Cooper staged a mini recovery as Newell, Keyte and Jake Wright all kept a lid on the scoring as the required rate continued to tip in TACH’s favour.
Jordan returned for a second spell and broke a partnership of 37 as Rowles could only chop a short ball onto his own stumps, and from there Keyte (3-17) and Wright (1-20) mopped up the tail, leaving Cooper stranded on 28 not out, and Kineton all out for 129.
TACH remain third in the Cotswold Hills League Premier Division table with four games left to play.
Tanworth and Camp Hill are next in action against Leek Wootton on Saturday, August 10 with the game to begin at 12.30pm at the Memorial Ground.
