OMBERSLEY had to settle for a losing draw as Birmingham League Premier Division Two promotion rivals Leamington amassed more than 300 runs at Arlington Avenue.

A half century from Sulaiman Hussain (53) set the tone before a fifth-wicket stand of 150 between William Mashinge (64 not out) and Oliver Currill (100) boosted the total to 308.

Currill faced 89 balls and hit seven fours and eight sixes while Gareth Andrew was Ombersley’s most successful bowler with 3-76.

Ombersley’s reply began at a pace as openers Liam Gwynne (80) and Jack Haynes (71) took the score to 114 before the latter was dismissed by Nabeel Asghar.

Restricted to 41 overs in their reply because of an interruption for rain, Ombersley required 269 for a winning draw.

But after Gwynne was dismissed at 180-3, they fell away to 210-9 as Asghar added four more wickets to his tally to finish with 5-52. Ombersley’s failure to reach the 80 per cent target of 215 meant that Leamington have drawn level with them in third place on 174 points, one point behind Harborne and three points behind leaders Oswestry.

Barnards Green suffered a five-wicket defeat to Wolverhampton despite half centuries from Mahaaz Ahmed (57) and George Rhodes (54).

Spinners Matthew Kleinveldt (4-48) and Joe Stanley (4-65) shared the bulk of the wickets as Green were bowled for 224.

Skipper Kleinveldt then saw his side to victory with an unbeaten 101. Brockhampton have sunk to the bottom of the table after their defeat to fellow strugglers Tamworth who dismissed the Herefordshire side for 114.

Bromsgrove lost by six wickets to Himley.

In Premier Division One, third-from-bottom Kidderminster slumped to a four-wicket defeat to Knowle and Dorridge at Chester Road.

Without skipper Neil Pinner, a fragile Kidderminster line-up was restricted to 191-9 with a top score of 39 from Connor Smith.

Jack Grundy took 4-62 and Chris Cheslin provided ideal support with 4-37 for Knowle & Dorridge who required an unbeaten 56 from Martin Donald to see them over the line after they had slipped to a precarious 103-5.

Meanwhile, Barnt Green saw off Smethwick by 57 runs.