Division One

George Rhodes and Ben Clarke might have mopped up seven wickets between them as Barnards Green stunned title hopefuls Knowle & Dorridge but it was Oliver Halion who was the hero, snaffling the final wicket to wrap up a four-run victory with just four balls to spare.

The Worcestershire hosts batted first and opener Rehaan Edavalath’s 96 gave them the perfect start. Skipper Ryan Tongue added a useful 36 but others struggled and they were all out for 201 in the final over. Rhodes (4-25) and Clarke (3-46) then struck at regular intervals and K&D went into the final over needing five to win. But Halion was having none of it and clean bowled Tom Davis with his second ball to prompt the Barnards Green celebrations. Nick James (46) and Alex Phillips (41) were the pick of the batsmen.

There were plenty of runs scored elsewhere, in particular at Smethwick who posted a huge 426/6 against Himley on their way to a 155-run victory. There were half-centuries from Deepak Khatri (97), Gurbaj Singh (57) and Bilal Shafayat (51) but the star of the show for the league leaders was opener Rajpal Beniwal who smashed 150 off 104 balls. There were three wickets for Jamie Turner and two for Dinuk De Silva.

Himley skipper and opener Ollie Walker went for a duck but Connor Smith hit 71 and Charitha Kumarasinghe 48 but they were never on target and finished on 271/9. Rahees Kayani led the bowling with 3-41.

Shrewsbury are still second following their impressive 207-win win at struggling Wolverhampton. Former Shrewsbury School skipper Dan Humes hit an unbeaten 129 off 94 deliveries and there were useful contributions from skipper Peter Clark (61) (pictured) and Finn Jones (51). Reeve Evitts took 3-49. Rhodri Evans then captured 4-45 as the home side were dismissed for 130, captain Joe Stanley (67) the only batsman to offer any resistance to the Shrewsbury attack.

Halesowen complete the top three after they had hosts Barnt Green all out for a paltry 70. They had previously posted 241/7 in spite of Jack Warner taking two wickets in two balls. But this was more than enough as the Cherry Hill Road side crumbled aginst the bowling of Eddie Rhodes (3-13) and James Rudge (3-29) who was playing against his former club.

Elsewhere there was a half-century from Theo Wylie (52) but it was not enough to stop Berkswell from suffering a six wicket defeat at home to Moseley. Eesa Nadeem took 4-35 to restrict the home side to 179 and Moseley eased to 181/4 in the 35th over helped largely by opener Abdullah Awan’s 68 not out.

Nick Hammond top scored with 84 for Ombersley as they beat Harborne by three wickets. They ran up 235/7 in answer to their visitors’ 233/7 for whom Ben Shepperson also scored 84.

Division Two

Brilliant bowling from Pakistani all-rounder Ali Zaryab fired Kenilworth Wardens to a three-wicket victory at Shifnal to maintain their lead at the top of the table. He took 5-14 from his 9.2 overs as the home side were dismissed for 121, tail-ender Usman Bari the pick of the batters with an unbeaten 41 including the only six of the innings. Wardens also found runs hard to come by though and were reduced to 24/4 before a steady 33 from Harry Johnson calmed things down and they reached 122/7 in the 41st over.

Dorridge beat basement club Coventry & North Warwickshire by seven wickets with Warwickshire quickie Chris Rushworth taking 3-22 and Nabell Mahmood 3-31. The visitors were skittled out for 183 which proved no problem for the title-chasers who had plenty of overs in hand as they reached 184/3, Mahmood (51) and Luke Horgan (71) putting on 123 for the opening wicket.

Handsworth sit in the other relegation place and they lost to Leamington by 52 runs. The Warwickshire side posted 260/9 helped by Rashawn Worrell’s 107. Recordo Gordon took 3-33 and Bevon Brown 3-40. The home side never really got into top gear though as they were dismissed for 208.

Old Hill were convincing eight-wicket winners at home to Kidderminster with Aamir Manzoor’s bowling proving too much for the visitors as he chalked up figures of 4-35 from his ten overs. All out for 115, Kidderminster’s bowlers then tried to restrict their Black County opponents but Waqas Ahmed (50no) and Saad Naseem (42no) were able to guide them home as they posted 119/2.

Tim Maxfield claimed 4-44 as West Bromwich Dartmouth beat Tamworth by seven wickets. Aaron Patel and Brinder Phagura each bagged a brace as the visitors were dismissed for 230, Ed Smith top scoring with 59. A 133-run first wicket partnership between Bruce Thompson (79) and Danny-Jo Cox (84) then helped the hosts to 231/3.

There were plenty of runs at Stourbridge where visitors Worfield made 331/4 led by Aman Hussain (72), Joe Wright (68), Rishin Patabedige (58) and Ross Aucott (54no). Dan Wale took three of the wickets. Openers Bilal Hussain (75) and Jujhar Johal (53) gave the hosts the perfect start but Stourbridge were unable to see the task through and they were all out for 282.