Although Division Two leaders Wolverhampton were made to work hard for their four-wicket victory over lowly Walsall, the Danescourt side increased their advantage to 20 points following Harborne’s defeat at home, to Lichfield, and Bromsgrove’s demise at Barnards Green who have moved up to fourth place in the table. Mateen Khan (47 not out), Rahul Kaushal (41), Om Bhosale (37) and Sunny Singh (32) all made decent starts for the Gorway side but none of them were able to go on to play the innings to take them to an impregnable total. They fell, agonisingly, one run short of a third batting point, by finishing on 219 for six and this might prove to be crucial in the shake-up at the end of the season. Warrick Fynn took 3 for 29 for Wolverhampton who knocked off the runs for the loss of six wickets in the 50th over with 69 from Charlie Home and 65 from Ramanjot Jaswal. The position at the foot of the table has become much closer after the bottom club Worfield earned their first victory of the season against 11th placed Wem. Worfield are, now, 17 points behind 10th placed Walsall who they face next week. Former Shropshire player Ross Aucott hit 127 from 157 balls as Worfield piled up 260 for five at Wem who were dismissed for 125 in reply. Tarik Shorey provided the icing on the cake for Worfield with an unbeaten 42 from 22 balls, including three fours and three sixes, then blew Wem away with 6 for 17 from 12.1 overs. Tail ender Tom Astley, with 38, was the only batter to show any resistance for Wem who could find themselves at the foot of the table if Worfield produce a result against Walsall next week and they fail to respond against Lichfield. The match between Harborne and Lichfield was an, unusually, low-scoring affair for a match played at Harborne with the home side dismissed for 176, despite 56 from Karan Bharaj. Riley Ward did most of the damage with 5 for 51 and Tom Swift took 3 for 24 for Lichfield who lost their first five wickets for 43 before a sixth wicket stand of 130 between Brinder Phagura (64 not out) and Ward (64) took them to the verge of victory, which was duly earned despite the loss of two more wickets with the score on 173.

The highest total of the day in either division came from Barnards Green who hit 333 for seven in 55 overs against third in the table Bromsgrove. A third wicket stand of 172 between George Rhodes (113) and Zain Ul-Hassan (91) provided the platform for Phil Harris to blast 69 from 37 balls with five fours and five sixes. Alex Wilkinson took four wickets for Bromsgrove, but they came at a cost of 92 runs. An opening stand of 104 by Connor Smith (63) and Jayden Levitt (45) provided a good start for the visitors but, after they were both dismissed by Rhodes, only Ashley Newfield, with 46, was able to dominate the Barnards Green attack. At 202 for five, the match result was drifting towards a draw, but the return of Harris (5 for 52) proved to be Bromsgrove’s downfall. He took the last five wickets as they slumped to 223 all out in the 51st over. After a tricky start to the season, West Bromwich Dartmouth’s fortunes continue to improve with a comfortable win over inconsistent Bridgnorth with more than 20 overs to spare. After an opening stand of 64 between Ryan Lockley (35) and Sam Whitney (33), Bridgnorth lost all 10 wickets for 108 to be 172 all out. Matty Simmonds hit 50 but the remaining batters folded to Kobe Herft (3 for 19), Sajad Ahmadzai (3 for 32) and Shahzeb Raja (3 for 32). Half-centuries from Herft (76 not out) and Bruce Thomason (56) ensured that the efforts of the Dartmouth attack were not wasted. The match between Himley and Dorridge was, greatly, affected by the rain, as 19 overs were lost to an interruption during the Himley innings. After the break, Himley reached 171 for nine from 55 overs with a top score of 31 from Ollie Walker. David Ball (5 for 45) and Jack Mills (3 for 31) were the standout bowlers for Dorridge whose overs were reduced to 36. A bold 80 from 100 balls from skipper Joe Dodd put his side in a great position to win the game bit with two runs required from the final ball, Zakariya Paruk was run out by Callum Lea to leave the scores level. Dorridge took a winning draw due to a faster run rate, but they will have been frustrated to finish so near to a valuable victory. Northamptonshire left-arm spinner Graeme White was the best of the Himley bowlers with 2 for 45 from nine overs.