Cricket Round-Up: Halesowen remain second after winning draw

The hosts opened with the bat and stormed into the ascendency thanks in large part to Matt Pardoe's impressive 109 runs from 116 balls. 

Jack Stanley did his best to stem the tide as he took five wickets, but Halesowen kept the run total ticking with Chris Whitlock and Hasan Mahmood chipping in with 37 and 35 respectively.

Halesowen eventually finished the first innings with a commanding 327/7 and Will Nield attempted to lead the fightback with a 74-ball 59. 

Reeve Evitts and Bhargav Patel weighed in with 31 apiece but Wolverhampton ultimately fell short in their efforts, finishing the innings at 209/7. 

That result saw Halesowen, trailing top spot by 13 points, create a one-point buffer between themselves and Ombersley in third-place. 

Meanwhile, Wolverhampton sit in eighth-place after an inconsistent start to the 2025 season. 

Smethwick climbed into fifth in the table after winning by six wickets away at Harborne.

Harborne opened with the bat and opened in auspicious fashion with Kshitiz Sharma hit 72 from as many balls, while Ben Shepperson also added a further 35. 

Yet the rest of the batters failed to match those figures and bowler Yasir Ali was in inspired form as he collected five wickets alongside Asad Ali's total of three. 

Smethwick eventually bowled Harborne all out for 207 and made relatively easy work of things in the second innings to secure victory inside 37.3 overs. 

Viken Kedariya played an instrumental role, striking 111 from 109 balls, with Bilal Shafayat also dazzling with a 47-ball 48, to send Smethwick on thee cusp of victory. 

Mohammed Tahir also weighed in with 21 as Smethwick finished on a victorious 208/4 to guarantee maximum points. 

Second from bottom Himley beat Barnards Green by six wickets to end to move to within two points of safety. 

In the first innings, Ollie Rogoff high-scored with 77 for Barnards Green, with Francis Moore following up with 50 from 62 balls. 

However, Connor Smith took three wickets and Barnards Green finished the innings at 201/7. 

Himley produced a rousing response as Ollie Walker struck 111 from 102 balls to propel them into the driving seat. 

Ollie Westbury added a further 30 and Charitha Kumarasinghe and Spencer Grove chipped in with 21 and 20 respectively to help Himley finish on 207/4 after 39.5 overs. 

In Division Two, Stourbridge climbed into top spot with an 18-run victory over second-place Tamworth. 

Stourbridge were bowled out for just 119 with Jason Jakeman taking five wickets and Tom Smith collecting four. 

However, Tamworth's response was tamed by an incredible bowling performance from Stourbridge, as Dominic O'Reily and Syed Bukhari took four wickets each to bowl Tamworth out for 111. 

Saad Naseem high-scored with 59 during Old Hill's 35-victory at second from bottom Coventry & North Warwickshire. 

Elsewhere, third from bottom Kidderminster suffered a losing draw at home to Leamington. 

Leamington finished the first innings on 239/8 and Kidderminster fell short in their response on 180/8.