KIDDERMINSTER couldn't take advantage of an impressive opening spell of bowling against a formidable Berkswell side and finished up thanking the arrival of rain at Chester Road as their Birmingham League Premier One contest was eventually cut short.

Classy bowling from Chris Steele who claimed three for 37 from his 13 overs reduced Berkswell to 44 for five at one stage after taking first strike with the bat.

Chris Whittock then led a recovery by cracking 75 runs from 95 balls as Berkswell bounced back with the bat.

Whittock found support from former Glamorgan player Nick James who added 31 while one time Warwickshire allrounder Grant Thornton provided an unbeaten 27 not out.

They enabled Berkswell to muster a below par 169 all out with 10 overs to spare.

Much travelled county player Graham Wagg helped mop up the wickets with figures of three for 21 while Liam Weston with two for 30 and Zed Bashir two for 38 also got in on the act.

With thunderstorms gathering, Kidderminster's reply proved less than convincing as they stuttered to 57 for five when the heavens opened.

Luke Powell had proved pick of Kidderminster's batting with 19 after both Thornton and James had bagged a couple of cheap wickets apiece.

But the signs still look ominous for Kidderminster who remain 22 points adrift at the bottom of the table.

Barnt Green are still searching for the first win of the season despite putting newboys Barnards Green to the sword with a blistering batting display.

The Cherry Hill contingent were treated to a run spree as Barnt Green built a huge total of 307 for four.

Opening bat Ben Chapman-Lilley led from the front to reach 95 and found plenty of support from Jacques Banton with 38 and Derbyshire's Matt Lamb who fell one run short of his half century.

The scoreboard continued to tick over as wicketkeeper Amrinder Brar blasted another 73 not out while skipper Dom Harding remained unbeaten on 38 not out.

In reply, Barnards Green opening bats Ryan Tongue and Rehaan Edavalath crawled to 69 without loss off 134 balls before rain brought play to an abrupt halt.

Halesowen suffered a stunning collapse as they crashed to a 28 run reverse against Moseley.

Harry Kitchen claimed five for 60 as Moseley managed to muster 233 for nine from their allotted 55 overs.

That total never looked enough as Halesowen recovered from the early loss of their opening bats to take control.

Skipper Alexei Kervezee scored 94 while Si Gregory smacked another 49, the pair putting on 126 for the third wicket.

At one stage Halesowen stood at 204 for five but then lost their last five wickets while only adding one more run to finish on 205 all out.

Yadvinder Singh led Moseley's fightback with the ball by taking four for 57 and was backed up by Awais Mohammed with three for 56 and Usman Awan who took two for 26.

The rain robbed Himley of victory after the Stourbridge Road side had struggling Shifnal on the ropes in their Premier Two clash.

Northamptonshire left arm spinner Graeme White snapped up six for 37 with the ball as Shifnal sunk from 58 without loss to 147 all out.

White was backed up in attack by off-spinner Ben Robinson who bagged two for 26 to put Himley firmly in the driving seat.

Connor Smith with 31 and Ollie Walker on 23 led the charge in reply as Himley raced to 100 for three in reply when rain arrived to ruin things after 21 overs.

Bromsgrove recovered from a bad start with the bat to reach 186 for nine against Shropshire side Worfield.

Alex Wilkinson was unbeaten on 51 not out and found support from Josh De Souza who scored 42 as the pair put on 93 for the sixth wicket.

Matt Rees managed to keep Worfield in the running by returning figures of five for 32.

In reply, Worfield were intriguingly placed at 78 for two when rain brought matters to a halt, former Himley favourite Greg Wright having made 35.