BARNT Green were beaten by just 15 runs following a thrilling contest with Knowle and Dorridge.

The result could have gone either way but Barnt Green missed out when their last wicket went down with just four balls remaining.

Barnt Green skipper Andy Sutton said: “In the last five overs, it was anyone’s game.

"We tend to have cracking games with Knowle and Dorridge and this one didn’t disappoint either. It’s just a shame we couldn’t hold on a bit longer because we deserved a draw.

“But the game seemed to sum up our season. One moment we can be quite brilliant and then at other times, we can be poor.

“We bowled really well for the first 25 to 27 overs. But after drinks, we seemed to take our foot off the gas and Knowle and Dorridge got away a bit.

“Our problems seem to stem from the fact we can’t field a consistent side. We don’t field the same side two weeks running.

“When we won the league under Dougie Brown, we had a solid 11 to 12 players and each one knew their jobs and what they were doing.

“We haven’t had that luxury this season and keep having to make five to six changes and you’re not going to win anything with that.”

The Green made a great start with the ball when Luke Radford removed Warwickshire’s Jonathan Webb with just one run on the board.

But Barnt Green’s grip with the ball fell away in the second half of the innings as Tom Smith struck 95 not out.

Belated support from Ben Brookes with 33 helped Knowle and Dorridge reach 264 for eight.

Barnt Green responded well with Sam Cheshire 22, Tom Banton 51, Ed Pollock 39 and Matt Lamb 79 putting them in sight of victory.

But the innings fell away in the closing stages with Webb coming back to extract revenge when he removed the last wicket of Jayme Crouch to claim four for 39 off 15.2 overs.

Barnt Green travel to second from bottom Walmley on Saturday - a match Sutton stresses they need to win adding: “We need to beat the teams around us because I don’t want to be in a position where we drop into the bottom four.”

The Green should be boosted in the bowling department with the return of Darrell Williams, Simon Jackson and Faisal Shahid.