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Jones hit 73 as Penkridge, who lost the toss and were asked to bat, posted 185-7.

And the bowlers then kept things tight as Lichfield were restricted to 122-8.

Jones was supported by Adam Ball, who hit 40 as Penkridge recovered from 50-5 to post a competitive total.

Jamie Sarginson and Phil Stevens were the bowling stars for Lichfield as they claimed three wickets each.

Gary Pope and Mike Talbot then took three wickets apiece as Lichfield held on for a losing draw at 122-8 with Ben Astley and Peter Woodfield scoring 20 and 20 not out respectively.

Penkridge captain Chad Clarke said: "We could have done with winning the game in view of our position in the table, but after losing the toss it wasn't a bad result.

"They just shut up shop after we took a few early wickets and in the end I think they just wanted to stop us getting the 25 points."

• A five-wicket haul from Azhar Mahmood helped Hammerwich defeat Bloxwich to leapfrog their opponents and climb to third in the table.

Mahmood claimed 5-52 and conceded just seven runs off his first nine overs as Hammerwich won by 56 runs.

Hammerwich lost the toss and were asked to bat first and they looked in trouble at 57-7.

But Faisal Afridi and Eddy Jarvis shared an 8th wicket stand of 47 before Jarvis was caught on 10.

Afridi went on to make 48 including two sixes before he was caught in the deep off the bowling of Matt Landston.

Matt Freeman (10) & Dave Goodwin two not out managed to bat for a further six overs taking the Hammerwich score up to 146 all out from 41.5 overs.

The Bloxwich reply never really got going as Afridi and Mahmood starred with the ball.

Afridi was brought back for a second spell and his pace was too much for the Bloxwich tail.

Thomas Fellows made a good 16 and Aaron Allcock a gutsy 27 before both became victims of Afridi as Bloxwich were all out for 90.

• New Zealander Kia Betney starred again with bat and ball as Brewood claimed a tense one-wicket victory over fellow strugglers Aldridge.

Betney took 3-30 as Brewood dismissed Aldridge for 146 then hit 37 as his side reached their victory target with nine wickets down.

Dave Wedge had starred with the ball, taking 4-18 to help restrict Aldridge. Captain Chris Guest took 3-40.

Betney then top-scored in the Brewood reply and he received support from Shaun Guest, who got 25.

Skipper Chris Guest paid tribute to Betney, who has been a consistent run-scorer and wicket-taker all summer.

He said: "It's Kia's first year at the club and his first year in England but he has proved to be an excellent player."

• Wednesbury kept up their bid for the title with a thrilling five-run win over Highcroft and Great Barr.

Wednesbury made 136-7 and then dismissed their opponents for 131.

• Milford Hall picked up a thumping 10-wicket win over Whittington, dismissing their opponents for 136 and making 140 without loss in reply.

And Beacon won comfortably, making 212-9 then dismissing Cannock and Rugeley for 131 to record an 81-run win.