Division One

Barnt Green pounced on setbacks for title rivals Smethwick and Knowle & Dorridge to move into second place through a 30-run win over bottom side Moseley.

Opener Ben Chapman-Lilley led the way by carrying his bat for an unbeaten 78 but none of his colleagues reached 20 as Eesa Nadeem (5-29) and Ali Awan (5-54) left the strugglers with 154 to chase.

Moseley's chase was led by Zen Malik’s 38, but they were otherwise overwhelmed by the efforts of Archie Greaves-Hall (5-16) and Robbie Shurmer (3-34) and their resistance ended at 128 all out.

The Cherry Hill Road outfit now sit above two-time champions Smethwick who lost by four wickets at home to Halesowen. Worcestershire's Isaac Mohammed (pictured) hit a dozen fours and three sixes on his way to 117, leaving captain Bilal Shafayat confident enough to declare after 51 overs with Smethwick on 257/6.

It looked like a masterstroke when Joe Porter went without score from his second ball followed by Arun Kalsi for just five to leave Halesowen on 16/2 but up stepped prolific South African Raynard Van Tonder (113) and Glamorgan's Zain Ul-Hassan (80) to alter the course of the contest. Acting captain Ed Bragg (32no) then stayed the distance to get Halesowen over the line with nine balls to spare and in the process move them up to fourth.

Leaders Knowle & Dorridge had to battle to avoid defeat at Ombersley with their tailenders seeing out the final few overs. Sinel Gunarathne (55), Yusuf Khalil (39) and Luke Powell (50) ensured Ombersley set a testing target of 239/8 after which the K&D response soon slipped to 78/4. Although Callum Bennett's 57 revived hopes the visitors still required Nick James and Tom Davis to bat in survival mode for the final four-and-a-half overs.

There was an epic battle of the bowlers as Barnards Green claimed a 102-run win at Shrewsbury. The home side's Sam Whitney took a BDPCL season's best 8/56 as Joseph Harrison (39) and Jevan Kher (47) helped Barnards Green to 217 all out. However that paled into insignificance after the break when former Worcestershire and Leicestershire spinner George Rhodes improved on this by claiming 8/43 as Shrewsbury were bowled out for 115. 

In a contest that may have huge significance for the relegation picture, Dorridge picked up 17 points from a winning draw at second-bottom Kenilworth Wardens. The visitors were asked to bat with Montcin Hodge (75) and Daniyal Khan (66) setting the tempo before Nabeel Mahmood (39) pushed the visitors to 302/7. Oliver Dandy (70) and Harry Johnson (44) kept Wardens in touch but after Nabeel Mahmood (3-40) dismissed both, Tommy Rex (1no) and Jack Pidgeon (11no) dug in to ensure Wardens secured a draw at 198/8.

Himley had the better of a high-scoring draw at Harborne. After being sent in to bat Mathew Boroughs (64), Olly Westbury (63) and Mitesh Patel (71) got the visitors to 312/7, former Moseley Ashfield paceman Rayyen Khan (4-73) proving the biggest drag on their momentum.

Harborne’s response was rapid with Hasan Mahmood’s 63 made from just 38 balls while Arjun Nahal got to 52 from 42 deliveries. That saw Harborne to 159/3 inside 27 overs only for Matt Jeavons (4-64) to halt their charge before last pair Tom Arnold (42no) and Khan (4no) stood firm for the final five overs to prevent the visitors claiming maximum points.

Division Two

An absorbing four-way relegation battle involving three giants of the 20th century closed league is set to go deep into the season.

Old Hill jumped out of the relegation zone by ending a month-long wait for a win with a first 24-point haul of the season. Hasan Ahmed (53) and Hamza Khan (55) put on 89 for their first wicket and with Pakistani pro Saad Naseem weighing in with 98 Tamworth were left to chase 272/8 at Haden Hill.

The visitors never quite matched that run rate despite the best efforts of stand-in opener Tom Smith (45), Alec Price (57) and James Rudge (38) and with Sam Keeling-Wright claiming 5-50 they were eventually bowled out for 192.

West Bromwich Dartmouth now prop up the table after Shifnal further distanced themselves from the bottom four with a 103-run win at Sandwell Park. The in-form Joe Johnson made 56 for the visitors before Harry Parton (41) steered the Telford-based visitors to 221.

Bruce Thomason (26) and Kobe Herft (46) then flew out of the blocks for the hosts before Shropshire seamer Ben Roberts (6-18) reversed this momentum and packed Dartmouth off for 118.

Harry Smith’s unbeaten 100 helped promotion-hunting Leamington to ease to a seven-wicket success at second-bottom Worfield. Spa stalwart Tom Warner (2-33) took out both home openers before leg-spinner Jason Jakeman (6-43) had a field day as the hosts were bowled out for 169.

Rohel JP Peters again top-scored for Worfield with 40 but after the break Smith made batting look a less challenging task as he found the boundary on 13 occasions while reaching a 114-ball century as his side eased to 173/3 in the 37th over.

Kidderminster are now nine points above the drop zone after being spun to a 130-run defeat by Berkswell's Will Tarrant and Ethan Wragg who shared seven wickets. Kiddy's quest for 258 began well but after Nathan Jukes made 43 the Carpet Men slumped to 128 all out inside 37 overs.

Frankie Ingram (37) and Will Iles (80) had earlier put on 87 for the home side's second wicket and with wicket-keeper Tom Mousley adding 69 from 60 deliveries the visitors were set a substantial target. Aussie spinner Spencer White (3-73) led the way for Kidderminster with the ball. 

Attock maintained a slender lead at the top with an 86-run win at Milford Hall. Openers Aarib Khan (115) and Omar Ali (80) put the visitors in the ascendency before Will Davis (5-55) and Clark Haddrell (2-56) limited the damage to 265/9.

But seamer Umer Khalid (4-69) then swept through Milford’s top-order and despite Ibbadat Thaman making a superb 111 from just 86 balls, he received too little meaningful support to prevent the table-toppers closing the innings out at 179.

Openers Joe Stanley (57) and Reeve Evitts (81) kept Wolverhampton on the fringes of the promotion picture through a 56-run victory at Stourbridge. After they put on 113, Dominic O’Reilly's 5-51 pegged the visitors back to 217.

However, Will Jones (3-24) then put Stourbridge on the back foot and despite O’Reilly (35) and Jaspreet Singh (49) responding well the hosts were all out for 161.