STOURBRIDGE Social continued their promotion push with a hard fought winning draw at neighbours Himley.

Himley skipper Carl Brandrick won the toss and elected to bowl first on a green wicket. His decision appeared to be vindicated as Social slumped to 40-4 following Waqas Ahmed (6-66) dismissing Hatton, Milner, Fisher (13) and Ahmed (11).

However, Social showed the depth of their batting line up as Sakib Ali and Paul Clarke shared an invaluable century stand for the fifth wicket despite the testing bowling. Clarke departed for 79 as he looked to increase the run rate and Ali soon followed for 77 as another cluster of wickets threatened before an aggressive 32 from Usman Jilliani guided Social to a more than competitive total of 261-9.

After tea, Himley openers Zia-ur Rehman and Waqas Ahmed immediately got the scoreboard ticking until Usman Riaz picked up the crucial wicket of Ahmed with the score on 46.

Shah departed to a smart catch by Lance Mellor and Rehman was then run out by wicketkeeper Milner as Social attempted to take control of the match.

The game threatened to take another twist as Adam Naylor and Mike Horton shared a partnership of 103 for the fourth wicket before Mellor bowled Naylor for 65.

Ali showed his all round contribution to Social with a fine spell of tight bowling in tandem with Mellor as runs suddenly became hard to come by. After Horton fell for 51 and Harris soon followed, Himley decided to take no further risks and finished on 238-6, as Social picked up a vital 14 points.