Premier Division One leaders Knowle & Dorridge faced their toughest challenge this season when they made the short journey to Berkswell. The home side won the toss and elected to bat and lost a wicket in the first over, but Warwickshire skipper Will Rhodes held them together with 69 from 88 balls. Tom Mousley hit 35 earlier in the innings but, although three other batters reached the 20’s, none of them were able to play an innings of substance. Mohammed Umar Shaikh took 3 for 56 and Berkswell were all out for 226 off the first ball of the 55th over. Hamza Shaikh (70) batted steadily for K & D before the loss of two wickets brought Overseas Player Marques Ackerman to the wicket on his debut. He struck a brisk 52 from 39 balls but his dismissal, quickly followed by the fall of Alex Phillips, put more pressure on Shaikh. He was dismissed with the total on 177 and another wicket fell, seven runs later. However, James Middleton (46 not out) and his skipper Jack Grundy (16 not out) came together in an unbroken seventh wicket partnership of 44 to see K & D to a victory that keeps them four points ahead of second placed Wolverhampton who were eight wicket winners at Barnards Green after they lost the toss and were asked to bowl first. Sam Ellis (3 for 68) took two early wickets, but it was Charles Jackson (6 for 30) who did the main damage taking out the next five batters including Barnards Green skipper Ryan Tongue for 50. Oli Rogoff hit a bold 69 but the only other batter to make any impact was Ben Clarke (36) as the home side were 210 all out in 50.1 overs. In reply, an opening stand of 112 between Warrick Fynn and Ramanjot Jaswal paved the way for a comfortable victory. Jaswal was run out for 37, followed by Ben Horne for 17, but Tom Fell (29 not out) joined Fynn to ease Wolverhampton to victory. Fynn finished unbeaten on 122 from 162 balls and hit 17 fours and a six.

Halesowen maintained the pressure on the top two with an 82-run success against Ombersley and trail Wolverhampton by five points. Halesowen’s innings faltered early on as they stuttered to 94 for five but Buckinghamshire’s all-rounder Ed Bragg improved the situation with a classy unbeaten 113 from 138 balls including 10 fours and 3 sixes. At 128 for six, he was joined by James Rudge (63) in a partnership of 119 for the seventh wicket which took Halesowen out of reach to 266 for eight from 55 overs. Without the Worcestershire pair of Brett D’Oliveira and Jack Haynes and also missing Nick Hammond and club skipper Liam Gwynne, Ombersley’s expectations were heaped on stand-in captain Taylor Cornall but he lacked support as they tumbled to 184 all out in 43.2 overs. Cornall scored 58 but the next highest score was 22 as spinners Harry Kitchen (4 for 24) and Masiullah Qazkhill (4 for 59) took a grip on the game. After a disappointing start to the season with the white ball, Moseley are charging up the table after three consecutive wins in the red ball format. They have moved up to fourth in the table but, still, lie 28 points behind Halesowen. After winning the toss at Kenilworth Wardens they routed the home side for 105 in 28 overs then knocked off the target for the loss of two wickets in just 10.5 overs. Warwickshire’s Jacob Bethell scored 42 for Wardens but runs were scarce elsewhere in the order as former Berkswell seamer Awais Mohammed took 5 for 21. Moseley, then, raced to victory, led by Somerset’s Andy Umeed who hit an unbeaten 44 from 25 balls after coming to the wicket at 39 for two.

One of the surprises of the season, so far, has been the poor form of Barnt Green who are one of two clubs yet to win a game. Their unsuccessful run continued when they visited last year’s title winners Smethwick and conceded 309 for nine in 55 overs. Worcestershire’s Kashif Ali top scored for the Broomfield outfit with a spanking 129 from 114 balls which included 10 fours and 8 sixes. Ali and Roshan Venkataraman (65) added 142 for the fourth wicket with only Robbie Shurmer (3 for 61) and Jacques Banton (3 for 65) able to stem the flow. Barnt Green found the going much tougher after the interval and never threatened the Smethwick total. Shurmer (41 not out) and Banton (39) were, also the best batters for the visitors but their struggles were highlighted by Smethwick’s use of eight bowlers during the innings. Neither Shrewsbury nor Kidderminster had recorded a win before they met at London Road, and it was Shrewsbury who gave themselves a lift with a comfortable nine wicket victory which leaves Kidderminster marooned at the bottom. Shrewsbury’s win hasn’t taken them out of the bottom two, but they are, now, only three points behind Barnt Green and Barnards Green who are both three points ahead of the Shropshire side. Luke Powell’s 31 was the only highlight as Kidderminster were rushed out for 115 in 38 overs. Harry Darley took 4 for 19 and Warwickshire’s George Garrett picked up 3 for 39 for Shrewsbury who, only, needed 18.1 overs to clinch victory after an opening partnership of 98 between Will Parton (55) and George Hargrave (50 not out).