Wolves and Halesowen are keeping pressure on at top

Wolverhampton trail league leaders Knowle & Dorridge by three points despite their eight-wicket victory over Barnards Green.

Charles Jackson inspired the Staffordshire side, sending stumps everywhere during his 13 overs where he took 6-30 as Wolves bowled out their hosts for 210 in the 51st over.

Warrick Fynn’s 122 not out off 162 balls in reply was enough to guide the visitors over the line as they chased down the score with ease, only losing two wickets with five overs of the innings remaining.

Edward Bragg inspired Halesowen to another win with his 113 not out against Ombersley, the all-rounder hit 10 fours and three sixes on his way to the score which helped Halesowen make 266-8.

Masihullah Qazkhill took 4-59 in reply and was well supported by Harry Kitchen (4-25) as they bowled the visitors out for 184 in the 44th over.

Kidderminster had another disappointing day at the office with their heavy defeat at Shrewsbury.

They were put into bat by Shrews and were bowled out for 115, with Luke Powell top-scoring with 31. Harry Darley was the pick of the bowlers for Shrewsbury, taking 4-19 from his spell. George Hargrave (50no) and Will Parton (55no) both made half-centuries as the Shropshire side chased down the score in the 19th over.

Smethwick continued their bright start to the season with a winning draw against Barnt Green. They got 309-9 off their 55 overs courtesy of a century from Kashif Ali (129).

Barnt Green made little progress in the chase finishing on 186-8 from their overs.

In Division Two, Himley got back to winnings way with a well-deserved victory against Lichfield. It was an all-round team performance that guided them to the win.

They put the home side in and restricted them to 195-8 off their 55 overs with some tight bowling on a spicy surface. Will Davies (106) made a very good century for the hosts to give them a chance. But in reply, Himley chased down the total with ease only losing three wickets. Bilal Hussain (58) Connor Smith (38) and Navindu Vithanage (48no) all made significant contributions.

West Bromwich Dartmouth are now second in the table after a comfortable victory over Leamington.

The visitors were bowled out for 144 in the 44th over thanks to a five-wicket haul from Ravan Chahal. The seamer went for 26 runs as he ripped through the visitors’ batting line-up, which included the wicket of former West Indian Test player Shane Dowrich.

Dartmouth lost just four wickets in the chase as they overcame the score with ease in the 28th over.

Ismail Mohammed made 70 from 77 balls to guide his side to victory to keep up their good start to the season.