Premier Division Two front-runners Dorridge were held to a losing draw at Shifnal, but they still lead the way by a healthy 21 points over West Bromwich Dartmouth after Lichfield went down to a home defeat to Himley by seven wickets. Boosted by the inclusion of Worcestershire seamer Joe Leach, Shifnal put aside their disappointing early season form and piled up 303 for seven in 55 overs against the table-toppers. Shrewsbury School’s Theo Wylie and Jack Edwards opened with 207 for the first wicket with Edwards the first to go for 89. Wylie followed at 242 having hit 16 fours and 3 sixes in an outstanding innings of 127 from 122 balls. The two openers were dismissed by Perry Derrick (2 for 80) before veteran all-rounder David Ball pegged Shifnal back by taking the next five wickets at a personal cost of 104. Leach (3 for 55) took two early wickets but a promising 75 from Daniyal Khan and 40 from Ashish Chakrapani saw him off without further damage. He returned later in the innings to dismiss Khan but Suffolk’s Ben Shepperson (39) and skipper Joe Dodd (30 not out) with the help of Ball (23 not out) saw Dorridge to 244 for six at the close. The loss of three early wickets threatened to leave Lichfield in disarray against Himley but a battling 106 from 148 balls from Will Davies led a recovery to 195 for eight in 55 overs. Joe Seager lent solid support with 28 but an accurate Himley attack prevented Lichfield from reaching an imposing total. In reply, an opening partnership of 64 between Connor Smith (38) and Bilal Hussain (58) set the tone before Navindu Vithanage (48 not out) and Ollie Walker (21 not out) picked up the pace to see Himley over the line to a win that keeps them in fifth place in the table.

Despite the inclusion of former England Test man Darren Maddy in their side, Leamington struggled for runs against West Bromwich Dartmouth at Sandwell Park. Their top scorer was Tom Warner with 24 as they crawled to 144 all out in 43.4 overs. Dartmouth’s Ravan Chahal (5 for 26) did most of the damage on a day when three former Walsall players took nine of the Leamington wickets for Dartmouth. At 86 for four, in reply, Dartmouth supporters were becoming “twitchy”, but Ismail Khan (70 not out) and Yusuf Khalil (22 not out) saw them to a six wicket win in 27.4 overs as they chased down Leamington’s total. Coventry & N.W.’s score of 262 all out in 55 overs proved too many for Worfield who finished on 167 for six in reply. Shivan Bhambri (85), Marco Higgins (42) and Alex Johnson (40) were in good form for Coventry, while it was Matthew Rees (6 for 77) and Ben Parker (3 for 46) who took the eye for Worfield. The Shropshire side’s innings began slowly and they never picked up the pace as they settled for a losing draw with skippers past and present Will Cook (37) and Joe Arnold (33 not out) the highest scorers. Bhambri completed a fine all-round performance for Coventry with 3 for 33.

In the lower half of the table, Tamworth earned their first success of the season with an impressive run chase at Harborne. Swapnil Gugale (129) and Jamie Harris (49) boosted the home side to 277 all out in 54.2 overs but this target proved to be just too little as Tamworth clinched a seven wicket win with 11 balls to spare. Liam Brazier (5 for 92) and Jason Jakeman (3 for 81) were the most successful bowlers for Tamworth and Jakeman then played a major role with the bat alongside Suraj Chauhan in an unbroken fourth wicket partnership of 151. Jake Flower (54) and Scott Daly (36) had placed Tamworth into a strong position before Jakeman and Chauhan took over. Jakeman finished unbeaten on 70 from 113 balls but it was Chauhan who provided the impetus for victory with an undefeated 108 from 81 balls. Jayden Levitt (127) scored his second century in eight days as Bromsgrove totalled 241 for five in 55 overs against Bridgnorth. Zak Abbas added a brisk 50 not out with Sam Baugh snapping up 3 for 51 for Bridgnorth. The visitors reply began, badly, as they slipped to 54 for five and they never recovered. Finally, they were 99 all out in 28.1 overs, slipping to a 142 run defeat which leaves the three Shropshire sides in this Division languishing in the bottom four. Former Barnt Green seamer Henry Marshall was the stand-out bowler for Bromsgrove with 5 for 43.