Pardoe stars with bat and ball in Kidderminster win

But a draw means the Chester Road side, third in Birmingham League’s Premier Division One, missed an opportunity to close to the gap on leaders Berkswell, who were without a game due to a Covid-19 outbreak at Shifnal.

Hosts Kidderminster opted to bat and Pardoe lifted his side from 37-3 to 164-4. In all he struck an unbeaten 129, which included 15 fours and two sixes, and shared a fourth-wicket stand of 129 skipper Neil Pinner (53).

Kidderminster closed on 236-8 from their 55 overs.

Barnt Green began their reply strongly as opener Ben Chapman-Lilley struck 89 before falling to Pardoe’s bowling, one of five consecutive wickets for Kidderminster’s star man, whose victims also included the dangerous William Baker (62).

Pardoe removed Chapman-Lilley and Baker at 201, leaving Barnt’s lower order with too much to do to win, with the visitors settling for the losing draw at 226-6.

Kidderminster’s average points-per-page is 12, just shy of Knowle & Dorridge’s 12.64 and well behind leaders Berkswell’s 14.31.

Elsewhere, there were defeats on the road for Smethwick and Walsall, in ninth and 10th place respectively.

Smethwick were disappointing in a low-scoring five-wicket defeat to strugglers Moseley, who remain second-bottom and in relegation trouble.

In first, visitors Smethwick could muster a top score of just 45 through Aman Hussain, who dug in from 119 balls to try to provide some stability as wickets tumbled.

But the next top scorer was the lower order’s Sajid Ahmedazai with 25 as Smethwick made a low target of just 131 after they finished all out from 53 overs. Former Smethwick seamer Yadvinder Singh (3-36) punished his old side.

Moseley were not big-scoring in response, as Smethwick’s Gurinder Singh (3-19) caused some damage with the ball as Moseley slipped to 72-5, but skipper Andrew Umeed managed 51 not out to steer his side over the line with five wickets in hand in the 45th over.

Walsall faced the stiff challenge of a trip to Knowle & Dorridge and, having put the high-flyers into bat, Neil Dexter (113) and Hamza Shaikh (74) thrashed their way through to a declaration of 285-4 from 52 overs.

Struggling Walsall, now just above Moseley in the drop zone, managed just 137 in response in the 148-run defeat. The only respite was Jake Ward and Luke Styne’s sixth-wicket stand of 69, in the heavy defeat. Seamers Aristides Karvelas and Chris Cheslin, with four wickets apiece, did the damage for Knowle & Dorridge.

In Premier Two, former Worcestershire and Netherlands star Alexei Kervezee plundered leaders Halesowen to a giant 178-run win at Bridgnorth.

Halesowen were struggling at 121-8 before Kervezee took hold. He finished with a remarkable 151 not out, which included 18 boundaries.

James Rudge (69) joined Kervezee for a ninth-wicket stand of 169 to post 290-9 at close.

Hosts Bridgnorth toiled in response and were all out for 112. Eddie Rhodes took 4-44, with Rudge (3-55) and Peter Scott (3-11) providing support.

Halesowen remain top with an average points of 15.93, ahead of Himley, in second, on 13.43. Himley were without action this weekend.

Pelsall climbed off bottom spot and above rivals Oswestry in the relegation places with a crucial six-wicket home win.

Oswestry were limited to 174 all out from 43 overs thanks to Jujhar Johal (5-40) and Todd Henderson (3-68).

Opener Jake Lee (70) was important in response and was joined by Henderson (50) for an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 61 for a comfortable victory from 43 overs.

Mid-table Wolverhampton secured an away win with an entertaining, big-hitting victory at Dorridge.

Ali Waqas shone with 154 not out from 163 balls, including 20 fours and three sixes. He was aided by wicketkeeper Charlie Mackleworth (43), Jack Stanley (36) and Pirmjit Singh Kalair (30 not out) to post a daunting 300-5 from 55 overs.

Dorridge were unfortunate in reply, falling just 28 short all out after impressive innings from Ben Shepperson (90) and Luke James (76). Charlie Home took three wickets for Wolverhampton, who are sixth.