Lewis Evans marked his 16th birthday with an impressive five-wicket haul for Shrewsbury - but it was not enough to save the Birmingham League premier division leaders from a first defeat of the season.

Having opened the campaign with victories over Moseley, Berkswell and Barnt Green, Shrewsbury saw their 100 per cent league record ended with a 71 run defeat at home to Dorridge.

The London Roaders will now be seeking a positive response when they travel to Wolverhampton on Saturday.

Dorridge opted to bat first on winning the toss and, held together by 72 from wicketkeeper Joe Dodd, they posted a competitive 225-9 from their 50 overs.

Evans, a left-arm leg spinner, was the pick of the Shrewsbury attack, taking 5-39 from eight overs, while Ed Foster claimed 2-21.

Shrewsbury, in reply, were well placed at 81-1 before Will Parton, captain in the absence of the unavailable Ben Stebbings, fell for 43, caught by Dodd off opposite number David Ball.

They then lost wickets at regular intervals and when Foster was sixth man out for 47 there was no way back as they were ultimately dismissed for 154 inside 42 overs, with James Harris taking 4-16.

Allrounder Foster said: “After all the good cricket we’ve played so far this season, we weren’t quite at the races.

“Dorridge played well, but looking back we could have bowled better.

“We’re a little bit short of batters this season, particularly when Ben Stebbings and Dillon Pennington don’t play, so it was always going to be tough to chase a lot of runs on a slow and dry wicket.”

The big plus of the day was the performance of the promising Evans in claiming five wickets.

Foster added: “It still surprises me how young he is but Lewis is a really useful cricketer and he made his first team debut at 14.

“To take five wickets in a premier division match at 16 is very impressive.”

Shrewsbury, meanwhile, were knocked out of the Birmingham League’s Twenty20 Challenge Cup last Thursday night, losing in the final over by five wickets at Bridgnorth.

Rob Foster top scored with 28 as Shrewsbury posted 126-9 before Bridgnorth, held together by David Laird (46) and Thomas Weaver (29) as Bradley Thornton took 2-16, hit back with 128-5, reaching their target with four balls to spare.

Elsewhere, Shrewsbury II lost by 59 runs at Bromsgrove II in reserve division one last weekend.

Shrewsbury, who will host Coventry & NW II on Saturday, were restricted to 199-7, with Richard Williams (39) and Greg Wassell (32) the top scorers, in reply to Bromsgrove’s 258 all out in which Shawn Humphreys, the club’s third team captain, took 4-23.