Bridgnorth (166) lost to Sutton Coldfield (169-9) by 1 wicket

Choosing to bat first, Bridgnorth's top order were again found lacking against an accurate Sutton Coldfield bowling attack. Of the top seven, only James Ralph and Dan Vernon reached double figures as skipper Sam Whitney found himself walking to the middle with the scoreboard showing 64-7.

Gareth Mumford and Whitney (39) then combined to dig in and attempt a rescue effort for their side, putting on 53 runs for the eighth wicket before Mumford was dismissed for 23. Cam Wallis then joined his captain to add a further 29, before Bridgnorth eventually finished on 166 all out in the final over of the innings.

In reply, Rowan Harland took an early wicket to improve hopes of a comeback for the Cricket Meadow men, but the hosts top order then got stuck in to put themselves back in control, thanks in part to a sparky 32 from Aaron Thomason.

However, all was not lost as two wickets apiece from Dave Exall (2-32), Whitney (2-39), good support from Tom Weaver, Vernon and Wallis saw Sutton Coldfield stutter to 96-5, then 134-7 and Bridgnorth's hopes of a turn-around greatly improved.

But despite a late double breakthrough from Harland (3-33) the winning runs were eventually hit off the final ball of the 43rd over, consigning Whitney's men to a gut-wrenching one-wicket defeat.

Whitney was upfront and honest about his thoughts after the game. "The lads know we aren't scoring enough runs, the top order have got to turn up for us. It was pleasing to work hard with Gareth [Mumford] to dig us out of a hole, but we can't keep falling to 4, 5 or 6 down every week in this league.

"We worked hard in the field, but ultimately we know we need to score more runs to win these games."