BARNT Green skipper Andy Sutton blamed himself for his side's hefty nine wicket defeat to Knowle and Dorridge in the Birmingham League League Premier Division.

Sutton admitted: " I got the toss wrong. I mis-read the conditions and elected to bat first. By 3pm, the sun was out and shining which made batting a great deal easier.

"But that said, Knowle and Dorridge thoroughly deserved to win.

"We'd set ourselves a good platform through Tom Banton and Matt Lamb.

"We were 100 for two after 22 overs and looked well set. But then we lost Matt Lamb, Tom Brown and Josh Poysden in the space of seven balls without scoring a run.

"We'd gone from around 120 for three to 130 for six with plenty of overs still remaining. From that points we crawled to 201 for seven.

Sutton held the lower order together with an unbeaten 51 not out after England under-19 prospect Banton had earlier scored 55.

But Knowle and Dorridge made light of their target in reply, coasting to a winning 202 for one.

Opening bat Alex Phillips led from the front with 96 not out while Warwickshire's Ateeq Javid scored a further 76 not out, Josh Poysden picked up the only wicket to fall when removing Oli Haley.

Life won't get any easier this coming Saturday when the Green travel to Ombersley where the hosts can call on the likes of Worcestershire's Brett D'Oliveira, former Worcester and Hampshire player Gareth Andrew, Herefordshire opening bat Liam Gwynne and in-form England under-19 player Josh Dell.

Sutton said: "Ombersley is always a tough place to bat as the ball can turn and seam a great deal and we will need to adapt to that."

Barnt Green progressed in the National T20 on Sunday with an easy nine wicket win over Pershore.

Both Sutton and Ben Dunn prised out three wickets apiece as Pershore were reduced to just 89 all out.

Tom Banton then blitzed a quickfire half century as Barnt Green cruised home in reply.

The Green face Worcester side Old Elizabethans in the next round.