Smethwick move clear at the top with derby delight

Yasir Ali and Deepak Khatri shared seven wickets as the visitors were skittled for just 137 inside 44 overs before easing to their total for the loss of just four wickets.

Matt Pardoe was Ali’s first victim on his way to 3-17 from his 11 overs and when Chris Whittock followed him back to the pavilion, Halesowen were reeling at 10 for two.

All-rounder Luke Tulacz put up some resistance while making 63 from 90 balls but with Khatri taking 4-34 from his 10.2 overs, runs were hard to come by.

In reply, opener Isaac Mohammed struck a rapid 46 off 38 balls including two sixes to give Smethwick the perfect start and Raj Beniwal (23no) and Bilal Shafayat (15no) were there to guide them over the line.

Himley edged a last-over victory at home to second-placed Knowle and Dorridge and were grateful to the excellent bowling of Graeme White who took 6-54 as the high-flying visitors were dismissed for 198 with eight balls remaining.

Gamindu Kanishka (2-40) and Ben Robinson (2-47) took the other wickets while skipper James Middleton top-scored for K&D with a stoic 64 off 101 balls.

With openers Ollie Westbury (40) and Ollie Walker (55) putting on 93 for the opening wicket, a Himley victory seemed certain but some impressive bowling from Indy Nandra stopped them in their tracks as he took 3-34 from 17 overs.

An unbeaten 49 from Navindu Vithange put the hosts back on course and White capped a fine all-round display with 12no as Himley reached 202 for six with 11 balls to spare.

West Bromwich Dartmouth beat Wolverhampton by four wickets but they remain bottom of the table.

Wolverhampton won the toss and batted first at Danescourt only to find themselves 37-3.

They battled up to a score of 198 thanks to 40 from Bhargav Patel with all the other batters making starts but not going on.

For Dartmouth, bowling has been their Achilles heel so far this season but the arrival of West Indian overseas player Akeem Jordan has gone a long way to resolving that issue.

He took 3-45 while he was well supported by spinner Ismail Mohammed who took 3-34.

And in the chase, Dartmouth eased home without too many alarms.

Yusuf Khalil made 62 off 99 balls and was the main contributor.

In Division Two, Tejas Wagle (3-27) and Oliver Davidson (3-37) were the chief wicket-takers for Harborne as Old Hill were skittled out for 144 on their way to a 68-run defeat at home to Harborne. Only Waqas Ahmed (48) was among the runs before being the first of three players to be run out.

Harborne had also struggled at times but posted 212 for nine with Ben Shepperson hitting 61 to lead the way.