BARNARDS GREEN moved back up to third in the Birmingham League Division One table following their 77-run victory over relegation-threatened Sutton Coldfield.
After losing the toss and being put into bat, Green got off to a slow start as they slumped to 33-3 after the early departures of George Rhodes (2), Josh Haynes (2) and Alex Hepburn (11).
Kyle Giniotis pushed the score along with an impressive 74 off 122 balls before Phil Harris (48) fell just two short of his half century as Green reached 172-6.
A quick-fire 61 not out off 35 balls from Jamie Tapper saw Green surpass 200 before they reached a score of 242-8 from 55 overs.
In response, Sutton Coldfield were bowled out for just 165 in the 50th over with Peter McKay (71) top scoring for the visitors while George Rhodes starred with the ball, taking four wickets for 28 runs.
Green were awarded the maximum 24 points and the win moves them to within 22 points of the promotion places.
There was also success for Green’s T20 side as they reached the regional final of the ECB National T20 competition where they will face Moseley (Sunday, July 17) following their five-wicket victory over Birmingham League Premier Division side Walmley.
After bowling Walmley out for 85, Green made light work of their run chase as Dannie Rees (31) and Andy Ford (21 no) guided the North End Lane outfit to 91 runs in the 16th over.
Green will look to make it back-to-back league wins on Saturday when they travel to Shropshire-based Wellington.
KEMPSEY sit just nine points off the promotion places in Division Three of the Worcestershire County League following their emphatic 164-run victory over Harborne.
Harborne won the toss and put Kempsey into bat and despite opening batsmen Tristan Robinson (4) and Lance Ohren (10) sent packing early on, Samuel O’Neill’s impressive 107 from 136 guided Kempsey to 257-5 from 50 overs with Zakary O’Neill (62 no) and Chris Jones (49) also adding valuable runs.
In their response, Harborne were skittled out for 93 with Adam Hunaban (3-6) and Adam Baker (3-25) getting a pick of the wickets.
MALVERN boosted their chances of climbing out the Division Three drop zone with an 87-run victory at Himbleton.
A strong opening partnership between Max White (49) and Anthony Arnold (73) helped the visitors post a score of 206 all out in the 45th over.
Andrew Croft (4-41) and Rob Perrins (3-17) did the damage with the ball for Malvern as the Meadow Boys were bowled out for 119 with Jon Critchlow (42) top scoring.
HANLEY CASTLE & UPTON dropped into the relegation zone in Division Four following their agonising four-wicket defeat to Himley while WEST MALVERN moved up to fourth in Division Five with a 47-run victory over Old Hill Thirds.