HALESOWEN returned to winning ways with a comprehensive victory over high-flying rivals Harborne.

After winning the toss and putting Harborne into bat, the Hales bowlers were quickly on top with right arm seamer Dylan Ross-Watt (6-19) destroying the top order.

With a late flourish from Indian player Srikant Munde (67 not out) Harborne struggled to 138 all out.

Halesowen were once again indebted to Ed Kilbee (66) and Hassan Quami (30 no) as they cruised home to win by six wickets and ease themselves off the bottom of the table.

Captain Richard Brooker said: "Obviously I am delighted with the win and we bowled particularly well. There are still things we can do differently but over the last week we sat down as a group and had a good long chat with club coach Richard Cox on three key areas to focus on for the team. We started that process on Saturday.

"It goes without saying that good teams go on a run and that’s our next task to back it up this weekend against Old Hill.

"We still have a long way to go but we now seem to be making the right moves. At the end of the day, it’s down to the players to go over that line and perform and they are the ones that should take the credit but also the nudge to not stand still."

In other games, the seconds, thirds and fourths all lost with the only notable performances coming from Carl Bust (4-34) in the third team and Callum Gutteridge (4-29) in the fourths.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Halesowen made the short trip to Old Hill for a memorial game to support Old Hill youngster Joe Dodd and his family whilst raising money for the Marie Curie Cancer Foundation. With some exciting cricket from both sides during the day the result was immaterial but showed that rivalry can still be played in an outstanding spirit.

On Bank Holiday Monday, the defence of the Worcestershire Cricket Board Canterbury Cup was due to commence against Redditch but the successive downpours proved too much and the game will now be replayed at another date.

Finally, the club has completed the installation of a brand new four–bay practice facility for the growing number of youngsters and senior members at the club. The facilities were funded thanks to Cory Environmental Trust, England and Wales Cricket Board and the clubs own efforts.

The new facility will cater for all members of the community as well as Halesowen CC members and has a brand new state-of-the-art playing surface which visually replicates that of a normal grass pitch. The £70,000 facility is due for a grand opening in June.