RESURGENT Kidderminster moved up to second spot in the Birmingham and District Cricket League Premier Division.

They ensured Wolverhampton's own challenge at the top continued to falter with a 19-run victory.

Fine bowling from Usman Arif (5-60) helped to dismiss Kidderminster for 183 at Chester Road.

But former Wolverhampton seamer Chris Russell topped that with 5-52 as Wolverhampton crashed to 164 all out despite another half-century from Wasim Jaffer (59).

A sparkling 111 from Tim Maxfield, supported by 67 from Mike Hingley and an undefeated 65 from David Powles guided Walsall to 271-7 at Ombersley.

But the villagers responded with 274-5 to clinch the game with nine balls to spare.

Walsall skipper Powles took 3-77 but 69 from Jack Haynes, 50 from Liam Gwynne, 48 from Nick Hammond and 40 not out from Ted Bayliss clinched the game for the home side.

Despite being held to a draw by Barnt Green, leaders Berkswell extended their lead to 52 points with eight games remaining.

After Darren Maddy opened up with 49, a superb 107 from Chris Whittock and 46 from Derbyshire all-rounder Tom Milnes took Berkswell to 268-8 after 55 overs.

Tom Banton was the most successful bowler for the visitors with four late wickets for 63.

A third-wicket stand of 126 between Ed Pollock (94) and Matthew Lamb (83) took Green to 167-2.

But 4-36 from Grant Thornton and 4-52 from Milnes pegged them back to 238-9 at the close.

Just five points separate the top three sides in Division One with Brockhampton taking over at the top after a winning draw at Smethwick.

Sixty from opening batsman Ryan Tongue, an unbeaten 54 from wicketkeeper Ian Bullock and 47 from overseas all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy took them to 209-8 against Smethwick, who struggled to 169-8 in reply.

A defiant unbeaten 38 from Vikram Sodhi saved the game for Smethwick after Dominic Badger took 4-67.

The side under most threat from a revival by the bottom two is Bromsgrove, who took maximum bonus points against Wellington but still finished 48 runs behind with six wickets standing.

At 115-6, Wellington’s final total of 291-9 looked unlikely but a seventh-wicket stand of 114 between Bhargav Merai (111) and Tom Masters (57no) signalled a recovery.

Ashley Newfield took 4-83 for Bromsgrove, who finished on 243-4 with 61no from Jayden Levitt, 55 from Newfield, 44no from Ryan Pedley and 43 from Matthew Dallaway.

Bridgnorth and Barnards Green are locked together in mid-table after the home side won a low-scoring game by four wickets.

An excellent spell of leg-spin bowling from Sam Whitney (5-36) restricted Green to 120 all out before James Ralph hit 39 to give Bridgnorth a flying start.

Once he was out, Andy Ford took 4-21 but a dogged unbeaten 32 from Mark Macpherson-Lees steered the Shropshire side to another 24 points. C & R Hawks moved away from danger at the foot of the Division Two table with a 44-run win over Old Elizabethans, who were bowled out for 193 despite 100 from skipper Jamie Boyle.

Hawks had been dismissed in 47.5 overs for 237 with outstanding contributions from Omar Ali (51), Syed Tahir (41) and a scintillating 85 from 78 balls from Muhammad Fayaz, who was also the author of OE’s downfall with 4-17.

Victories for the top four teams left the top of the Division Three table unchanged.

But the position is not so clear at the other end following wins for Aston Manor and Eastnor, who remain in the bottom four but have dragged themselves closer to Worfield and Brewood.

Pershore continued their challenge at the top with a 98-run win over a Brewood side lacking injured overseas player Dewald Joubert.

Adam Wiffen hit a patient 103 in a Pershore score of 214-9, the next best effort being 25 from Matthew Brace.

Jamie Lunn took 4-39 for Brewood but a batting line-up missing Joubert always looked likely to struggle on a wicket that turned from the start.

Taylor Pugh took 5-21 but top scoring number 10 batsman David Wedge (25) appeared to have thwarted Pershore after putting on 27 for the last wicket with Robbie Byrne (3 not out).

Finally, with 16 balls remaining, Wedge was bowled by Tom Pilling as Pershore continued their winning ways.

Astwood Bank brushed aside Newport by seven wickets after dismissing the Shropshire side for 148.

Ian Gillespie hit 48 for Newport, while Jake Price took 4-20 for Bank, who cantered to victory thanks to 50no from Tom Underhill and 41 from Tom Pedley.

Eastnor breathed life into their attempts to avoid relegation with a 100-run win over fellow strugglers Lichfield.

Suleyman Shah scored 49 and Jabran Khalid opened up with 41 in Eastnor’s total of 187 as Lichfield’s Tom Stone (4-49) and Jamie Sarginson (4-50) bowled valiantly for the Staffordshire outfit.

They were unable to match their efforts with the bat as Atiq ur-Rehman (5-17) and Shahid Ahmed (5-34) combined to see them off for 87.