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Club-record stand starts Walsall fightback

A club-record unbroken ninth wicket stand rescued Walsall and guided them to a second successive win in Division One.

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They recovered from 19-3 and 142-8 against Wellington to reach the giddy heights of 301-8 thanks to 159 between Ed Denham (76 not out) and Josh Bowker (73 not out).

In reply, Wellington were set a revised target of 284 in 45 overs, but Staffordshire's Paul Byrne took 5-33 as Wellington were dismissed for 245.

The Duckworth Lewis method settled Kidderminster's Premier Division derby with Ombersley who were dismissed for 156.

Former Himley all-rounder Nathan Round took 4-33 for the home side who were faced with a revised target of 136 to win in 35 overs.

Skipper Matt Pardoe hit 62 to see his side to the amended total with five wickets in hand.

Rain curtailed defending champions West Bromwich Dartmouth's innings when they had reached 159-2 after 30.3 overs against Wolverhampton.

Kadeer Ali had hit 84 not out and Warwickshire's Ateeq Javid 40 before the innings was brought to a close.

Facing a Duckworth-Lewis target of 181 from 24 overs, Wolverhampton collapsed to 81 all out in 15.2 overs with Javid claiming 4-15.

Himley reached 138-2 from 23 overs with Wasim Jaffer unbeaten on 51 in a rain-affected Division One clash.

And opponents Bromsgrove claimed a nine-wicket win by reaching a revised target of 186 with two overs to spare.

Old Hill crumbled to 137 all out in reply to Moseley's 289-8, in which Jimmy Howell picked up 5-52.

The local derby match between Smethwick and Harborne resulted in a 31-run win for the home side who were dismissed for 214 in 49.3 overs.

Bridgnorth defeated Brewood by nine wickets in a Division Two match. Brewood's 161 was passed in the 28th over.

Stourbridge lost by seven wickets at Old Elizabethans and Attiq Chishti's unbeaten 102 helped Penkridge beat Halesowen by three wickets.

Meanwhile, Staffordshire's Unicorns Knockout Trophy Group Four qualification hopes have been rocked by an impressive Berkshire run-chase at Stone.

he visitors needed 105 from the final 10 overs in a rain-affected 38-over contest.

But wicketkeeper Stewart Davison (46 not out) and skipper James Morris (36 no) hit out to seal a six-wicket victory with five balls remaining.

Staffs had done their best to restrict Berks, after Waqas Hussain (61) and Richard Morris (41) made inroads to their victory mark of 260.

Michael Hill (75 no), Alex Mellor (57) and Matthew Coxon (35 no) helped Staffs to their earlier total of 259-5.Mea

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