OLD Hill Cricket Club firsts extended their lead at the top of Birmingham League Division One courtesy of a winning draw at Coventry and North Warwick last Saturday.

This was inspite of losing opening bowler Gemaal Hussain to an ankle injury in the pre-match warm up which will keep him out for six weeks.

Having been asked to bat first, Old Hill posted 241-5 with major contributions from Nathan Round (63 not out), Paul Lazenbury (59) and captain Karl Pearson (54).

The home side could only manage 179-7 in reply, with Pearson taking 3-45.

The seconds game at Haden Hill was eventually abandand after a number of interruptions for rain against Kenilworth Wardens with Old Hill in the driving seat.

On Sunday Old Hill visited Dorridge in the National Knockout Cup and came away with an excellent victory bearing in mind the team had been decimated by injuries and county calls.

Dorridge batted first and amassed 204. Old Hill knocked off the runs in 42 overs to win by six wickets and now meet Knowle and Dorridge in round three.

With two home games in the three days over the Bank Holiday weekend Od Hill will be looking to increase their lead at the top of the table.

On Saturday they host Wellington before Cannock pay a visit on Monday(both 1pm starts).

Halesowen bounced back from a fairly dismal Saturday with a comfortable Sunday win against Droitwich.

Rain played a part in all of Halesowen's Saturday matches.

In the Birmingham League Division One, Halesowen firsts played Attock at home at Seth Somers Park and after winning the toss put Attock into bat.

In an innings interrupted by rain for 90 minutes, the visitors scored a total of 204-9 declared off 48 overs, with 16-year-old Warwickshire Academy player Junead Zaman scoring 59 and Sultan Mahmood 49.

Hales' bowlers struggled throughout with the wet ball with Laeq Chishti taking 3-60 off 15 overs.

A winning draw target of 120 off 28 allocated overs was the only realistic target for Halesowen whose innings had reached 20-2 off 12 overs when the umpires called a halt to proceedings due to bad light.

As a result Halesowen took nine points from the abandoned match, and remain ninth in the table.

This coming Saturday they play Shrewsbury away at London Road and on Monday (May 26), they are at home against Bromsgrove.

The Sunday firsts continued their impressive start to the season with a comfortable win at home to Droitwich.

After bowling the visitors out for 161, Halesowen completed the deserved victory with over 15 overs to spare.

Phillip Croft was extremely impressive with the ball claiming 4-39 off seven overs, while Kester Moseley finished unbeaten on 52.

Halesowen travel to Swindon this coming Sunday (May 25).

Also on Saturday, the seconds played West Bromwich Dartmouth away in the Birmingham League. In a game shortened to 34 overs per side after the rain had delayed the start until 3.50pm, Halesowen were battered to defeat by some spectacular hitting from Martin Phillips.

West Bromwich Dartmouth won the toss and decided to field. Halesowen scored a total of 155-8 off 34 overs. Top scorers were Joe Tromans with a quickfire 30 and Chris Round with 45.

In reply, West Bromwich Dartmouth scored 158-3 off 34 overs. Top scorers were Herdman with 43 not out and Martin Phillips with 48 not out.

Captain Steve Baker said: "It was arguably a game we shouldn't have played in such conditions, but with the opposition needing 100 runs off the last 10 overs, we were happy to stay out there."

This coming weekend, they play Shrewsbury at home on Saturday and Bromsgrove away on Monday.

In the Crusader Worcestershire County League, the thirds match away at Stourbridge was abandoned, while the fourths secured a three-wicket win at home against Stourbridge.

This coming Saturday the thirds entertain Himley at home, while the fourths travel away to Himley.