Knowle and Dorridge virtually secured their future in the Birmingham & District Premier Cricket League for another season when they beat local rivals Berkswell by six wickets.
Having conceded 375 for six to Berkswell in 50 overs, Dorridge faced a revised target of 299 from 31 overs - all six Premier Division matches suffered interruptions from the weather which left those sides batting second with a revised target - and raced home with three balls to spare. Tom Lewis smashed 124 from 74 balls for Berkswell, who, also, benefitted from 81 from Mark Best and 73 from Nick James.
In reply, an unbeaten 93 from skipper David Ball led the way with valuable contributions from Jamie Atkinson (76) and Ali Ebad (67).
Defeat left Berkswell 39 points behind league leaders West Bromwich Dartmouth whose biggest challenge now, appears to come from Barnt Green who trail the leaders by 25 points following a three wicket victory at Walmley.
At Sandwell Park, Kenilworth Wardens were dismissed for 188 leaving Dartmouth to score 184 in 46 overs to maintain their lead at the top of the table. Martin Donald scored 37 and Nick Seager opened with 36 but three wickets apiece for Aqsad Ali (3-31) and Brinder Phagura (3-38) kept the run rate under control. Dartmouth wobbled to 81 for four before a fifth wicket stand of 48 between Phagura (49) and Dan Bassett (34) steadied the ship.
After Bassett was dismissed, Phagura shared a stand of 53 for the sixth wicket with Ali to take Dartmouth over the line. Sitanshu Kotak took 3-36 for Wardens.
Dartmouth’s home game against Barnt Green next Saturday may prove to be the pivotal game of the season after the Worcestershire club kept up the pressure at Walmley who piled up 280 for eight at Eldon Drive, thanks to half-centuries from Kasir Shah (59 not out), Andrew Hendry (56) and Lewis Harrison (51).
Barnt Green’s target was revised to 271 in 45 overs then adjusted again to 259 in 43 overs after a further interruption. Nathan Newport (58) set them on their way before Ed Pollock (57), Sam Cheshire (49) and Luke Radford (33 not out) eased them to victory with eight balls remaining.
At the bottom of the table, defeats for Walsall and Himley means that their clash in the last game of the season is likely to be a sombre affair. Walsall are now 28 points from safety with Himley a further 14 points in arrears. Dom Harding (124) and Sam Reddish (52) helped Knowle & Dorridge to 262 all out at Gorway with a partnership of 125 for the third wicket with Paul Byrne (4-49) the most successful bowler for Walsall.
Facing a target of 254 from 45 overs, further reduced to 243 from 43 overs, Walsall folded to 202 all out after an opening stand of 99 between James Middleton (50) and Umar Amin (45). Himley were unable to take advantage of the occasional presence of Tom Kohler-Cadmore (70) and Ben Smith (52 not out) against Brockhampton who chased down a revised target of 121 in 20 overs with two overs to spare after the Himley innings closed on 208 for seven.
Adam Hewlett top scored for Brockhampton with 37 while Jamie Harris took 3 for 37 for Himley for whom a minimum of three wins from the final four games still means that they will have to rely on a late collapse by Kidderminster Victoria or Walmley to reach safety.
Kidderminster’s hopes of securing a win at Shrewsbury were dashed by a superb 94 from Shrewsbury’s Tom Cox in his side’s total of 187 all out. Gareth Williams (3-26) and Michael Hill (3-38) bowled economical spells for Kidderminster who were set a revised target of 176 in 42 overs.
They fell 12 runs short despite 54 from Richard Kimberlin. Dewi Jones took 3-27, Sam Griffiths took 3-28 and Elliott Green finished with 3-37 for Shrewsbury who have moved comfortably into mid-table.