KIDDERMINSTER Cricket Club virtually guaranteed their Premier League status with a six-wicket win over Harborne in the Birmingham and District League on Saturday.
The victory gave the home side a vital 18 points which should end any relegation fears.
KCC skipper Mark Mansell put the visitors in after winning the toss and were soon in the driving seat when Mandeep Singh took a catch off Richard Wilkinson's bowling.
Harborne settled and scored 61 before the loss of their second wicket. This time, medium-pacer Mark Sellek struck to leave the score 65-2 after 22 overs.
Another stand, bringing 29 runs, was broken by Sellek, and eight overs later he struck again with the score on 118-4 and 38 of the 60 overs gone.
There was a flourish by Harborne but at 160-4, with 12 overs remaining, they were to lose yet another wicket to Sellek who bowled throughout the innings.
Leg-spinner Singh took over the job of removing Harborne batsmen and took four of the last five wickets, with Mansell taking the other one.
A flurry of runs - 12 in the 57th over - allowed Harborne to finish on 203.
KCC were without Worcestershire second team wicket-keeper James Pipe, but his place was taken by county opener Elliot Wilson and he proved the match winner.
KCC had a steady start before losing Richard Wilkinson for 10 with the score on 44. They had added only 11 more runs before Jon Firth departed on eight and the score was 55-2 after 22 overs.
Then came a classic partnership between Wilson and Singh, with superb running between the wickets, keeping the scoreboard ticking over well.
The partnership ended in the 35th over with Singh out for 40, the pair having added 75 runs in 13 overs with the score at 130-3.
James Ralph carried on the good work and hit some excellent shots. He and Wilson put on 65 in 12 overs before Ralph was out for 44.
Mansell joined Wilson and they reached the required total with five overs to spare, with Mansell unbeaten on 10.
Wilson looked confident and showed his early-season form.
With Smethwick almost certainly relegated, Wolverhampton look likely to join them. The final blow to Wolves could come on September 2 when they play their penultimate game at Kidderminster.
Harborne 203 (Wingfield 64, Cox 57, Mark Sellek 4-73, Mandeep Singh 4-76), KCC 205-4 (Elliott Wilson 78no, James Ralph 44.
KCC 2nd v Harborne - Harborne won by seven wickets.
Kidderminster lacked flair against the impressive bowling of Harborne in their Birmingham and District Premier League Division Two clash.
Kidderminster finished on 111-7, helped by Anthony Carter's 31no and Adam Griffiths' 23.
However, Harborne cruised to victory with 16.5 overs to spare.
KCC 111-7 (Anthony Carter 31no, Adam Griffiths 23, I Gunthorpe 5-37), Harborne 114-3 (J Cockroft 46no, A James 25).
KCC 4th v Tenbury - KCC won by seven wickets
Good bowling from John Dance, Andy Logan, Lee Daniels and Tony Burkes kept the Tenbury score to 152 in this Worcestershire County League Division Three South 2nds fixture.
In reply Ron Whitcomb (63no) and Paul Mitchell (34) saw KCC to victory.
Tenbury 152-8, KCC 154-3 (Ron Whitcomb 63no, Paul Mitchell 34).
Dominies 2nd v KCC 4th - Dominies won by 85 runs.
John Dance took four Dominies wickets, Trevor Branford and Tony Burkes three each, but Kidderminster could not get the required runs, on Saturday in a County League Division Three South 2nds match.
Dominies 168, KCC 83.
q THERE will be a meeting of Kidderminster Umpires Association at Harriers Club on Tuesday, starting at 7.30pm.
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