HAMMERWICH dug deep with the bat to earn a draw at home against league leaders Fordhouses.
The hosts sent their guests in to bat first – and they made a breakthrough when Niall Cooper (13) was caught by Andy Malkin off the bowling of Haider Pervaiz with the score on 29.
But the scoring was steady for Fordhouses as Mubeen Rashid's 91 was assisted well by the middle order with a number of players scoring 20-plus runs.
Hammerwich eventually skittled out the visitors for 254, with Pervaiz the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-44.
The hosts made a strong start in reply with the bat, reaching 76 before Benjamin Novis was trapped lbw by Lewis Peat after scoring 30.
Luke Ponder was next back in the pavilion to leave the scoreboard on 101-2.
More wickets followed, but opener Imran Qadir dug in to hit 96 before he was caught by Mubeen Rashid off the bowling of Adam Peat to leave his side on 174-4.
Haider Pervaiz (5) and John Jennings (20) were the next Hammerwich men out, but Daniel Bate and Hasnain Nawaz both defended stoutly to see out the innings on 206-9 and secure the draw.
