Wolverhampton extended their lead at the top of Premier Division Two to an imposing 30 points after they crushed Bromsgrove by nine wickets at Danescourt. On a day when showers were forecast throughout the afternoon, Bromsgrove, surprisingly, batted first after winning the toss and, immediately, handed the initiative to the table-toppers who dismissed them for 135 in 53.1 overs. The only bright spot for Bromsgrove was a fourth wicket stand of 64 between Ashley Newfield (39) and Lewis Cordes (34) before the spin twins Warrick Fynn (4 for 13) and Joe Stanley (3 for 33) snapped up the last seven wickets for 45. Although Ramanjot Jaswal was dismissed with the total on six, there were no further dramas as Tom Fell (74 not out) and Fynn (55 not out) added 131 without being parted. Harborne lie in second place in the table, but they lost ground by being held to a winning draw at Himley after batting their full allocation of 55 overs to reach 272 for seven. Tejas Wagle was in great form, striking 122 from 128 balls and he was supported by 55 from Swapnil Gugale and 44 from Tom Arnold. Northamptonshire left-arm spinner Graeme White took 4 for 66 for Himley who lost three overs from their full allocation due to a break for rain. They, finally, reached 209 for eight from 52 overs which wasn’t enough to deny Harborne the full 10 points for a winning draw, despite a fourth wicket stand of 118 between Ollie Walker (65) and Jeevan Klair (49). Mike Bevan was the pick of the bowlers for Harborne with 3 for 27 and Gugale took 3 for 55. The most exciting match of the day was at Dorridge, where the home side chased down a West Bromwich Dartmouth total of 255 for six, thanks to an unbroken eighth wicket partnership of 188 between Chris Wright (104 not out) and David Ball (81 not out) who came together with the total on 70. After they slid to 14 for three, Ben Shepperson (32) and Joe Dodd (23) took the Dorridge score to 59 before they were parted but very few present on the ground will have predicted what was to come. Coming to the wicket at number nine, Leicestershire’s Wright hit 16 fours and 3 sixes, while the veteran all-rounder Ball struck 12 fours and a six as they chased down the target with eight balls in hand after their allocation was reduced to 50 overs following a couple of short breaks for rain. Sajid Ahmadzai (3 for 66) and Shahzeb Raja (3 for 72) tasted early success for Dartmouth who had been steered to their total by 48 from Ismail Mohammed, 46 from Kobe Herft, 35 not out from Danny Cox, 35 from Tim Maxfield and 34 from Ibbadat Thaman. Ball was Dorridge’s most successful bowler with 3 for 70.

At the other end of the table, Worfield remain bottom, after a losing draw to Barnards Green but Wem climb one point above Walsall, courtesy of a losing draw to Bridgnorth, while the Gorway outfit were outplayed by a Lichfield side that, 12 months ago, stood two divisions below them. Walsall’s slide towards relegation out of the League showed no sign of halting after they won the toss and elected to bat at Lichfield. They were soon in trouble to Brinder Phagura (4 for 35), Leicestershire all-rounder Ben Mike (3 for 11) and James Wilkinson (3 for 47) as they crumbled to 73 for nine before spirited resistance from Iman Ul-Haq (49 not out) earned them a batting point as they were all out for 116. Despite 3 for 24 from Jordan Bulpitt, this total proved to be well within Lichfield’s reach as they eased to a six wickets success. After losing the toss and batting first against Wem, Bridgnorth closed on 255 for five in 55 overs after a fifth wicket stand of 110 between David Laird (73) and Matty Simmons (45 not out). Earlier, opening bat Sam Whitney had hit 74 for Bridgnorth and he, later, took 5 for 55 as Wem attempted to reach a winning draw target of 206 after their reply was reduced to 36 overs. Opening batters Craig Heath (92) and Harry Chandler (47) added 116 for the first wicket but the dismissal of Graham Wagg (27) to Whitney was a crucial blow to their hopes. Their final total of 201 for six enabled them to secure four batting points which takes them one point ahead of Walsall. In a rain affected match at Worfield, West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor made his League debut for Barnards Green and returned figures of 3 for 35 as the home side reached 233 for eight from 55 overs. Basit Zaman hit 63 for Worfield who were unable to prevent the visitors from reaching a target of 185 to earn a winning draw after their reply was restricted to 35 overs. Ryan Tongue (63), Zain Ul-Hassan (47 not out) and Oliver Halion (36 not out) did the necessary to keep Barnards Green in the hunt for promotion, 20 points behind second placed Harborne and seven points behind Bromsgrove and Lichfield who are tied in third place.