Halesowen on top having responded to blip in form - Birmingham League round-up

The hosts were mightily impressive to see off sixth-placed Shrewsbury with minimal fuss at Seth Somers Park - mostly thanks to the bowling of Ed Bragg.

The former Worcestershire youngster proved too hot to handle as he claimed five wickets for 19 runs from his 15 overs. Eddie Rhodes and James Rudge also took two wickets each to leave the visiting Salopians at 81 all out.

And Halesowen, whose fine start to the season had been checked by an out-of-sorts June, clinched victory with six wickets to spare with opener Hasan Mahmood's 42 doing most of the damage.

Halesowen top the pile by two points from Knowle & Dorridge, who slipped up at home to fourth-placed Smethwick.

Smethwick edged an eye-catching victory in a dramatic encounter in Solihull. They dismissed their hosts for 166 (Gurbaj Singh 4-23, Yasir Ali 3-46 and Deepak Khatri 2-41) but a tight affair looked in the balance at 106-5.

The visitors rallied, however, thanks to match-winning hero Bilal Shafayat who, batting at five, steered a clinching unbeaten 59 including 11 fours to see his side to victory in the 41st over, albeit with just two wickets remaining as team-mates fell.

Lowly Himley were dealt a potentially damaging defeat in the clash of the bottom two at Berkswell.

Himley lost heavily by six wickets having slumped out for 172. Skipper Ollie Westbury (27) and James Clark (30) were their best returns as Amrit Basra took 4-41.

Basra was the star of the show as he delivered a masterpiece with the bat as an unbeaten 106 did the job in the 31st over.

The victory, just Berkswell's second of the campaign, but them within 15 points of second-bottom Himley in the dropzone places.

Wolverhampton, in ninth, were beaten at Harborne of one place above on an afternoon of high scoring.

More than 600 runs were scored as visitors Wolves would have been satisfied posting 301-9 including 99 for Tom Fell (pictured in minor county action) and Sam Ellis (48) and Reeve Evitts (45). Andrew Sutton claimed five wickets for the hosts.

But a couple of excellent partnerships put the big-hitting contest in Harborne's favour. Openers Jamie Harris and Eddie Miller partnered for 148 before Kshitiz Sharma and Ben Shepperson put on 116 batting at six and seven for victory as Wolverhampton's bowlers could not get to grips.

Division Two saw West Bromwich Dartmouth trounced at home by fellow mid-table side Old Hill in a one-sided Black Country derby.

Old Hill's bowling attack of Bilal Hassan (4-38), Suraj Chauhan (3-20) and Saad Naseem (2-9) proved formidable as Dartmouth fell 94 all out with Ismail Mohammed's 22 as best.

The visitors' openers Omar Masood (32) and Hasan Ahmed (58) did most of the damage in the eight-wicket win in 14 overs.

Kidderminster stayed clear of the bottom two with 17 points in a winning draw at home to Worfield.

Kidderminster tallied 318-6 thanks to brilliance from Daniel Lategan of Worcestershire with 128. Andrew Kimberlin (53) and Mateen Khan (55) chipped in with half-centuries.

But Worfield dug in and ended 203-7 from their 55 overs.

Stourbridge lost ground on the top three with a losing draw at Coventry & North Warwickshire. The hosts were out for 275 as Dan Wale took 4-71.

Stourbridge mustered 184-8 in their response, led by wicketkeeper Marvarick Perry's 57.