Smethwick are champions again

The Broomfield club had not been champions for 54 years before winning in 2022 but are celebrating again after a superb season in which they have got over the line with three matches to spare.

Deepak Khatri took four wickets and Yasir Ali three as Barnt Green, who had chosen to bat, were bowled out for just 206.

Hassan Khan then anchored the reply with an unbeaten 57 from 113 balls as Kadeer Ali (59), Khatri (35 off 35 balls) and Bilal Shafayat (31 from 27 balls) accelerated the visitors toward the total and title.

Smethwick had moved to within striking distance of claiming the crown with a seven-wicket home win over Knowle & Dorridge on Saturday. In a match reduced to 28 overs-a-side, the visitors could only reach 118-7 batting first with former Warwickshire seamer Manny Johal claiming 2-18.

Khatri then smashed an unbeaten 50 from just 40 balls to ensure the chase was plain sailing for Smethwick, whose day got even better thanks to defeats for closest challengers Halesowen and Himley.

The latter were beaten by 68 runs at Berkswell, for whom Callum Bennett was the undoubted star of the show.

Bennett cracked an unbeaten 102 from just 50 balls, including seven sixes, to lift his team from 116-3 to 247-6 from 40 overs in another contest reduced by rain.

That target proved beyond Himley, who reached 108-3 before spinner Kamran Khanna tore through the middle order on route to claiming 4-37.

Halesowen went down by 48 runs at 2023 champions Moseley in a match reduced to 25 overs-a-side.

Matt Pardoe claimed 5-28 but the hosts total of 199-9 always looked a testing one and while all of Halesowen’s top four passed 20, wickets fell too regularly to sustain the chase. Ali Awan finished with figures of 4-37, while Che Simmons took 3-36.

At the other end of the table, the outlook for West Bromwich Dartmouth looks bleak.

Tim Maxfield struck an excellent 64 from just 35 balls to lift Dartmouth to a total of 152-7 in a match against Barnt Green made a T20 contest by the weather.

But Worcestershire’s Ed Pollock then thumped 78 from just 47 balls to ensure the chase was relatively straightforward for the visitors, who got home with more than four overs to spare.