FORMER Worcestershire opening bat Matt Pardoe proved his prowess with the ball as Kidderminster toppled top of the table Smethwick by 122 runs in Birmingham League Premier One.

Pardoe had already played his part with the bat making 49 in an imposing Kidderminster total of 297 all out.

Wicketkeeper Vikai Kelley had led the charge by scoring 91 while skipper Neil Pinner provided a further 69.

Additional contributions came from opener Andy Kimberlin who added 38 while Barney Morgan blitzed a belated 34.

Herefordshire's Roshan Venkataraman proved pick of Smethwick's attack by taking five for 57 off 12 overs.

But he was upstaged by his Minor Counties skipper Pardoe in reply who proved virtually unplayable by picking up figures of seven for 35 .

Smethwick wicketkeeper Rajpal Beniwal with 45 and Gurinder Singh on 36, tried to put up some resistance - but their innings fell well short on 175 all out, Lee Ashton with one for 29 and Alex Rennie who took two for 23 picking up the remaining wickets to fall.

Barnt Green breezed to an overwhelming 134 success over strugglers Shifnal and moved within striking distance of league leaders Smethwick in the process.

The Green piled on the runs to reach 298 for six declared from 50 overs.

Opening bats Ben Chapman-Lilley and Rheedyi Amin shared a first wicket stand of 166 to lay the foundations for a huge Green total.

Chapman-Lilley struck 86 while Amin added 112 off 81 balls, his innings containing 16 fours and three sixes.

Shifnal made a promising start in reply with Jack Edwards and Ethan Jamieson sharing a second wicket stand of 114.

But once Jamieson fell for 81, the remainder of the innings quickly subsided to the bowling of Oxfordshire's Robbie Shurmer who snapped up five for 38 while Adam Hines with two for 41 and the Birmingham League's leading wicket taker Andy Sutton who finished with two for 35 off 15 overs mopping up the remaining wickets to fall.

Halesowen have moved up to the dizzy heights of fifth place following a five wicket win over Leamington Spa.

Tom Warner stood tall by scoring 60 not out as he tried to instigate a tail end revival but Spa fell well short at 155 all out in the 46th over having been 112 for eight at one stage.

James Rudge proved the pick of Halesowen's bowling attack by taking three for 17 and was well backed up by Ed Bragg with two for 24, Ciaran Baker-Smith two for 28 and Harry Kitchen, who also had figures of two for 28.

Solid batting by Halesowen's top order was enough to see them home in reply on 157 for five from 32.4 overs.

Billy-Jo Cox proved best of the batting with 41 not out after opener Scott Jones on 27 and Luke Tulacz with 24 had laid a solid foundation.

Halesowen host bottom side Shifnal this Saturday while Kidderminster have a local derby on their hands when they take on Ombersley at Chester Road.

Barnt Green will have their title credentials tested when they travel to reigning champions Berkswell.

Bromsgrove got back into winning ways when they beat West Bromwich Dartmouth by 72 runs in Premier Two.

Former Worcestershire wicketkeeper Alex Milton made top score of 51 as Bromsgrove posted a target of 179 all out.

The return of ageless seamer Gareth Williams to Bromsgrove's bowling attack soon paid dividends as he made early inroads into Dartmouth's batting by taking three for 41 off 14 overs.

Williams was superbly backed up by Connor Smith with two for 41, Will Tuffin who took two for six while Freddie Fallows finished with fabulous figures of three for six off 6.5 overs.

It all proved too much for Dartmouth who were dismissed for 107 despite a defiant 41 from opening bat Bruce Thomason.

Himley's batting let them down after being reduced to just 118 all out against title favourites Wolverhampton.

Having slumped to 39 for six at one stage, James Lunn, batting at No.8 tried to turn matters around by making 44.

But Wolves made light of their reply when reaching 120 for four, Warwick Fynn following up his bowling spell of three for 13 by making top score of 37.

Himley will hope for a marked improvement this Saturday when they entertain relegation threatened Worfield at Stourbridge Road while Bromsgrove make the short trip to promotion chasers Harborne.