Barnt Green were the prime movers in Premier Division One, making the most of defeats for the top three clubs, by defeating bottom of the table Shifnal by 134 runs and regaining their place as the main threat to Smethwick’s title ambitions. Barnt Green’s victory at Shifnal lifts them two places into second in the table and reduces Smethwick’s lead at the top to 22 points. Batting first, after losing the toss, Barnt Green declared at 298 for six from 50 overs, after five overs in the game were lost to rain. This left the home side with 55 overs to earn an unlikely success and they were, eventually, dismissed for 164 in the 52nd over. An opening partnership of 166 between Rheedyi Amin (112) and Ben Chapman-Lilley (86) laid a solid foundation for Barnt Green before Shifnal’s Amar Jassal picked up four late wickets for 24, from six overs. Only Ethan Jamieson, with 81, stood up to a Barnt Green attack, spearheaded by Oxfordshire’s Robbie Shurmer who finished with 5 for 38. At Broomfield, in another game where overs were lost to rain, due to an interruption to the innings of the side batting first, Kidderminster were all out for 297 in 54.3 overs against Smethwick after winning the toss and electing to bat. Vikai Kelley (91) and Matt Pardoe (49) added 95 for the third wicket before skipper Neil Pinner hit 69 from 59 balls to boost the visitors’ total to almost 300, despite losing their last four wickets for the addition of two runs. Herefordshire’s all-rounder Roshan Venkataraman took 5 for 57 for Smethwick but it was his County captain Pardoe who produced the best bowling of the day, finishing with 7 for 35 as Smethwick were all out for 175 in the 47th and final over of their reply. Rajpal Beniwal top scored, with 45, for the League leaders, who will be hoping to maintain their 100% record in the white-ball win/lose format when it returns, next week, for the final six matches of the season. With Moseley’s ground out of use for three weeks, due to its use as a practice hub for the Commonwealth Games cricket tournament, their home fixture against Berkswell was switched to the Edgbaston Foundation Ground, which has witnessed plenty of Birmingham League cricket, in the past, as the home of the Mitchells & Butlers club. Having been invited to bat first, Berkswell took full advantage of a splendid batting pitch to pile up 351 for eight in 55 overs, despite an interruption for rain, during their innings, which reduced the Moseley response to 50 overs. A superb third wicket stand of 222 between Nick James (147) and Chris Whittock (90) set Berkswell on their way and, with the help of 32 extras, they set Moseley a daunting target. Yadvinder Singh (3 for 44) and Che Simmons (3 for 82) were the most successful bowlers for Moseley, who were faced with a revised target of 338 for a winning draw. Last week’s century-maker Rob Yates repeated the feat with 124 from 103 balls, this time, but his dismissal at 216 for three signalled the loss of Moseley’s last seven wickets for 37 runs. Ali Awan added 40 but it was former Warwickshire all-rounder Ateeq Javid, now playing for Cornwall, who did the damage, picking up 6 for 62 from 9.3 overs as Berkswell moved into a more comfortable mid-table position.

Shrewsbury’s win at Kenilworth Wardens moves them further away from the trapdoor, as does Ombersley’s victory over Knowle & Dorridge, but Leamington’s defeat at Halesowen, leaves them in trouble, 18 points behind Shrewsbury, who trail ninth placed Ombersley by one point. Jamie Harrison (57) and Henry Cullen (42) began well with an opening stand of 77 for Wardens but the innings fell away from 213 for four to 242 all out as Peter Clark snapped up 6 for 58. Shrewsbury then cantered to a five wicket success with more than nine overs to spare with 63 from Rhodri Evans and an unbeaten 45 from Rob Foster. Knowle & Dorridge’s defeat at Ombersley sees them sucked into the battle to avoid relegation, three points ahead of the side that beat them by seven wickets. An opening stand of 92 between Alex Phillips (54) and Warwickshire rookie Hamza Shaikh (46) was the high point of the K & D innings before they lost nine wickets for 88. An unbroken last wicket partnership of 22 took them over the 200 mark, but this proved to be an easy target for the home side who cruised to a seven wicket victory, with more than ten overs in hand, thanks to an undefeated fourth wicket stand of 64 by Nick Hammond (63 not out) and Alfie Marston (42 not out) after Josh Dell had opened with 53. Earlier, Elliot Mason had been the pick of the Ombersley bowlers with 3 for 61. Depleted by the absence of the injured Oliver Currill, Leamington crashed to a five wicket defeat at Halesowen, who move up to fifth place in the table. Leamington’s hold on a top tier spot is looking increasingly precarious and they were in deep trouble at 97 for seven before Tom Warner crashed an unbeaten 60 from 49 balls to see them to 155 all out in 46.5 overs. James Rudge (3 for 17) took two early wickets before finishing off the innings, then Billy-J Cox hit 41 not out to see Halesowen to a win that moves them much nearer to safety than they were during the early part of the season.