Smethwick rout lowly Dartmouth in derby day clash

Smethwick, who are 52 points clear at the top of division one heading into the final straight in the competition, racked up a mammoth 383 for three after being put into bat.

Opener Isaac Mohammed smashed 105 from 116 balls to get Smethwick off to a flyer before an even more brutal assault by Deepak Khatri, whose unbeaten 149 came off just 64 balls and saw him bludgeon 12 fours and 12 sixes.

A shellshocked Dartmouth side were reduced to 18 for three in reply before Tim Maxfield (28), Akeem Jordan (33), Cameron Jones (31) and Shozair Ali (32) gave some respectability to the scorecard.

However, the visitors eventually capitulated to 171 all out from 28.1 overs, with Smethwick winning by 212 runs and leaving Dartmouth at the foot of the table.

Like Smethwick, second-placed Halesowen also collected 20 points after beating Kenilworth Wardens, albeit in a slightly closer contest.

The Warwickshire side posted 251 for six from their 50 overs but Hales knocked them off with plenty of time to spare in a six-wicket victory.

Halesowen finished on 253 for four, from 34.5 overs, in large part due to opener Alexei Kervezee’s 132 not out from 97 balls. He was backed up by Luke Tulacz who hit 50.

Himley maintained their impressive return to the top flight with a nail-biting home win over Ombersley.

After being put in to bat, Ombersley posted a total of 217 all out from 48.2 overs, with Oliver Cox and LJ Powell hitting half-centuries. Ollie Walker took four wickets for 42 from his 19 overs for the hosts.

In reply, Navindu Vithanage scored 70 from 113 balls.

Wickets fell a regular intervals but Himley were seen home thanks to Graeme’s White’s unbeaten 32 with two balls to spare.

Eighth-placed Wolverhampton put daylight between themselves and Moseley in ninth, beating the Birmingham side by 158 runs at Danescourt.

Tom Fell and Bhargav Patel both hit 71 for the hosts as they were bowled out for 262.

However, Moseley struggled in reply as Wolverhampton’s Aman Rao took five wickets. The visitors were eventually all out for 104 off just 23.1 overs.