Struggling Pelsall finally up and running

Danny Pennell's side remain bottom of Division Two in the Birmingham Premier League.

But at the tenth attempt, they finally secured their maiden victory against a Himley side currently sitting second in the table.

Himley opened the battling and their top three of Oliver Westbury (42), Bilal Hussain (32) and Callum Lea (44) all made decent starts.

But they dismissed without going on to leave the visitors on 218-8 at the end of 55 overs.

Spinner Jamie Holmes took 4-46 for Pelsall who then chased down their target with more than five overs remaining.

Jake Lee (86) and Todd Henderson (43) added 96 for the third wicket with that partnership giving Himley the platform needed for victory.

Halesowen remain top of Division Two – with their lead having been extended to 24 points after they beat Oswestry.

Alexei Kervezee hit 96 and Jamie Harris scored 47 as the league's pacesetters reached 270-8 in Shropshire.

Oswestry then lost their first two wickets for just four runs before a third wicket stand of 131 between Warrick Fynn (110) and Josh Darley (49) steadied the ship.

But they were unable to press on as Herefordshire’s James Rudge took 3 for 40. Oswestry closed on 197 for six, leaving Halesowen to claim 15 points.

Wolverhampton included the Worcestershire duo Adam Finch and Tom Fell in their side to face Wem – with Fell playing a key role in his side securing a draw.

Batting first, after losing the toss, the Shropshire side produced a workmanlike batting effort to reach 234-9 nine from 55 overs.

Off-spinners Joe Stanley (5-65) and Charlie Home (3-63) were the pick of the bowlers for Wolverhampton.

But Jack Stanley (31) and Fell (20) were the only batters to reach 20.

Nevertheless, they were able to hang on at 130-9 to deny Wem the victory that their performance deserved.

In Division One, Smethwick moved back into second place after making light work of Kidderminster.

Despite a gutsy and defiant 60 from Andrew Kimberlin, Kidderminster were toppled for 127 in 44.5 overs as Gurinder Singh (4-35) and Sajid Ahmedazai (4-38) ripped through the order.

After losing skipper Rawait Khan (16) with the total on 40, Qamar Khan (65no) and Aman Hussain (33no) eased Smethwick to a nine wicket victory in 29 overs.

Walsall travelled to take on Leamington where they were involved in a high-scoring draw.

But they were side who grabbed the lion's share of the points after finishing on 287-6 from 55 overs.

In-form Billy-J Cox, who is now the leading run-scorer in the Division with 393 runs, led the way with 88 and opening bat Vriitya Aravind followed up last week’s century with another good innings of 79.

Leamington’s response began poorly, losing their first two wickets with just a single on the board before a third-wicket stand of 128 dragged them back into the game.

That partnership was dominated by Jon Wigley who made 104 from 111 balls.

But his dismissal enabled Walsall to apply the brakes with Leamington eventually finishing on 262-7.

West Bromwich Dartmouth fought their way to a competitive total of 168 all out in 55 overs to beat Knowle and Dorridge at Sandwell Park.

They began well, reaching 65 before the loss of their first wicket but, then, slumped to 82-5 before they were rescued by a sixth-wicket stand of 67 by Kabir Ali (40) and Shozair Ali (33).

They were then both dismissed by Chris Cheslin (3-42) and once they were gone, Dartmouth lost their last three wickets for three runs.

But Shozair Ali then took seven wickets for just 40 runs as Knowle and Dorridge were dismissed for 88.