A century from former captain Paul Grainger took Pelsall to the top of the table as they claimed winning draw against Cannock and Rugeley.

The ex-skipper continued his fine early-season form with 105, as Pelsall made  266-7 in their 50 overs.

Alex Jones also starred with 60 off 40 balls at the end of the innings to take his side past 250.

But the visitors shut up shop in the face of a daunting victory target and they ended the game on 151-7 to take their share of the points.

The lion’s share of the points from the draw was enough to take Pelsall two points clear of Beacon at the top, with captain Richard Cooper paying tribute to predecessor Grainger.

He said: “Paul can’t do anything wrong at the moment. He’s got the Midas touch this season.

“I think he is enjoying not being captain. He can focus on his own game and he is really enjoying his cricket.

“He is batting well but he is also doing great things when he bowls and he has been the real star for us this year.

“The challenge for me is to keep him fit and in form, because he is an excellent cricketer.”

A half-century and a four-wicket haul from Todd Henderson could not prevent Beacon losing top spot as Iftihar Ahmad spun in-form Hammerwich to victory.

Left-arm Chinaman bowler Ahmad took 5-39 in 11 overs as Hammerwich claimed a maximum 25 points from a 70-run victory, after losing the toss and being asked to bat.

Mohammed Yahya set the platform for a Hammerwich win with 83 in their 239-9 with Waheed Hussain (47) and Mohammed Habib the other main contributors.

Yahya and Habib shared a 126-run partnership for the second wicket.

Henderson (4-60) and Mike Dodunski (2-59) led the Beacon bowling and they were the stars again with the bat, making 56 and 40 respectively.

But Ahmad then came into his own as Beacon were dismissed for 169 in 46 overs.

Defeat for Beacon opened the door for Pelsall to take over at the top of the table, while Hammerwich’s maximum haul lifted them to third.

Winning captain Brian Fisher said: “We batted well early on but we lost wickets quickly later and we thought we were about 30 runs short on a small ground.

“But they were the leaders and we knew they needed the win so we set some defensive fields and a couple of their batsmen got themselves out.

“None of their batsmen below number six had batted before this season so we put a couple of close catchers in and it worked out for us.”