ALEX HEPBURN and Phil Harris guided Barnards Green to a winning draw against Birmingham League Division One high-fliers Himley.
Green elected to bat after winning the toss and despite openers Mark Hardinges (0) and Josh Haynes (16) dismissed early on, the North End Lane outfit recovered as Alex Hepburn hit 70 off 78 balls to push the score to 109-3.
Kyle Giniotis pushed the score to 158 before he fell three runs short of his half century after he was caught behind by Himley’s debutant wicket-keeper Adam Passmore from the bowling of Stuart Wedge (1-45)
After Jamie Tapper (9) was sent back to the pavilion with the score at 180-5, Harris’ 60 and Will Dovey’s unbeaten 46 pushed Green to a respectable 279-8 from their 55 overs.
In their response, Himley could only reach a score of 270-7 with top scorer Ben Smith (74), Worcestershire’s Tom Kohler-Cadmore (63) and Daniel Durman (44 no) hitting sizeable contributions.
Josh Haynes (3-81) and Patrick Brown (2-53) got the pick of the wickets for a Green side who picked up 15 points for the winning draw.
Green will look to continue on from their positive result on Saturday when they travel to mid-table Bridgnorth.
COLWALL slipped up in their hunt for promotion from Division One of the Worcestershire County League after succumbing to a seven-wicket defeat to a resurgent Droitwich Spa who have now won three on the bounce.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Colwall posted a score of 210-9 with the help of 56 from Fergus Cameron and useful contributions from Ben Butler (35), Mike King (32) and Ben Cooke (29).
Droitwich opener Max Young frustrated the Colwall bowlers with a strong 77 which was followed up by Ash Fearnall’s 47 as the score reached 164-3.
Victory for the visitors was confirmed as Paul Bryan (35 no) and Jordan Renau (19 no) guided Droitwich to 211-3 after 26 overs.
Colwall sit 19 points adrift of league leaders Worcester Nomads ahead of Saturday’s trip to third placed Stourport-on-Severn.
KEMPSEY returned to winning ways in Division Three as they secured a comfortable eight-wicket victory against Rushwick.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Rushwick were left frustrated by the Kempsey bowlers who limited their opponents to a below par 161-6 from 50 overs.
Zakary O’Neill (42) and Tristan Robinson (35) put on a 72-run partnership for the opening wicket before the latter was dismissed with the score at 100-2.
An unbeaten 44 from Samuel O’Neill backed up by Simon Dorrell’s unbeaten 25 guided Kempsey to victory in the 24th over with a score of 163-2.
MALVERN sit 25 points from safety in Division Three as they slumped to a 46-run home defeat to Ross-on-Wye at the Ramblers Ground.
The visitors posted 257-8 from their 50 overs with the help of Graham Howls’ 117 from 98 balls despite the best efforts of bowler Shane Abel who finished with figures of 5-44.
In their response, Malvern were skittled out for 211 in the 47th over with Charlie Cole (5-31) taking the lion’s share of the wickets.
HANLEY CASTLE & UPTON remain in the Division Four relegation zone following their 49-run loss to Stourport-on-Severn Thirds.
Stourport won the toss and chose to bat before setting a target of 281-7 thanks to strong some strong batting from Bevan Neill (53), Mitchell Dwyers (52) and James Cook (45).
Barton Matthews (2-33) and Harry Tippell (2-44) got the share of the wickets for a Hanley side which could only reach 232-9 in their response despite the best efforts of skipper Rory Mathews who top scored with an impressive 110.
Tippell (11), Todd Mathews (18), Josh Benson-Smith (16 no) and Grant Mathews (18) were the only other players to reach double figures for Hanley.
WEST MALVERN remain one point adrift of the promotion places in Division Five following their emphatic 186-run victory over basement club Staffordshire-based Enville.
Centuries from opener Steve Wright (127 no) and top scorer Will Lloyd (141) gave Enville a mountain to climb with a score of 326-2 from 50 overs.
Enville could only reach a score of 140-9 as they were undone by the bowling of Rowan Dakin who took five wickets for 27 runs which included a second hat-trick of the season.
West Malvern will hope to continue their promotion push this weekend when they travel to Stourbridge Thirds.