Kenilworth Wardens off the bottom despite Dorridge defeat
Kenilworth Wardens were again beaten in the Birmingham & District League Premier Division One, losing by five wickets at leaders Knowle & Dorridge on Saturday.
Choosing to bat first, the strugglers were dismissed for 230, largely thanks to a stunning 7-52 by Tom Davis in his 16.4 overs.
Ben Blakemore made 47, Harry Johnson 32, Levi Gekis 29, and Jamie Turner 28.
Dorridge replied with 234-5 as George Maddy (94) and Alex Phillips (47) put on 87 for the opening stand to set them on their way, Nick James adding 34.
The five points earned at least lifted Wardens to second bottom.
In Premier Division Two, Leamington finished with a losing draw away at Shifnal.
Chasing a daunting 292-6, they ended up on 244-9 when the overs ran out.
Charlie Home was 104 not out for Shifnal, hitting 12 boundaries, while Ben Lees helped himself to 79, including eight fours and three sixes.
Opener Oliver Parton fell one run short of his half century and James Hawkins took 3-42.
Harrison Smith top-scored for Leamington with 60 with Jonathan Wigley just a run behind his total, Jason Jakeman with 33 and Seb Bainbridge 31 not out.
Smith and Wigley put on 81 for the second wicket while Chad Brandrick took 3-37.
In the Warwickshire County League Premier Division, Leamington's seconds were crushed at home by 131 runs by Solihull Blossomfield and sit in the drop zone.
Asked to bat, Blossomfield responded with a huge 299-7 declared in 46 electric overs.
Dominic Harding hit 15 fours in his 102, Palaneesh Patchabatla scored 64, Chris Kenny 42 and Jack Seifas 35; Francois Klopper claiming 3-68.
Patchabatla and Harding enjoyed a 100-run third wicket partnership.
Leamington were then seen off for 168 in 44.5 overs, Amandeep Hallat hitting 41 with Tom Reid (4-40) and Bhrijesh Parmar (3-30) among the wickets.
In Division Two, leaders Warwick lost their big title clash by four wickets at second placed Nuneaton, who closed the gap on them to just three points.
Electing to bat first, Warwick made 191-8 in their 50 overs. Ben Whelpdale hit 64, Tom Spencer 39 and Joe Evans an unbeaten 26.
Nuneaton were 62-5 at one stage but steadied themselves to reach a winning 193-6 with 16 balls to spare, led by Rakibul Hassan's 76 not out and Chris Hughes' unbeaten 39.
Joshua Osborne ended the game with 3-35.
Kenilworth also stay in contention in third place after enjoying a seven wicket success against Knowle & Dorridge seconds.
The visitors compiled 186-9, spearheaded by Fahd Janjua's 75, Payl Lawrence taking 4-36.
Kenilworth reached 187-3 in 38.5 overs, Marco Higgins 69 not out, Joseph Tate 46 and Stuart Cope 36, Higgins and Tate sharing a third wicket stand of 107.