BARNT Green had too much for already relegated Himley on Saturday, as they maintained their hopes of a top two finish in the Birmingham and District League Premier with a seven-wicket win.

The Cherry Hill Road side bounced back from their defeat to leaders West Bromwich, which ended their title hopes, to out class a Himley side short on confidence after a disappointing season.

The home side had won the toss but on a pitch described by Green skipper Andy Sutton as 'fairly spicy' Himley decided to bat first.

It was a decision that they were left to rue as Sutton tore through their top order, taking the first five wickets, as Green collapsed to 55-5.

Stuart Wedge scored late runs for Himley with 54 off 63 balls but Nathan Newport (2-10), Tom Burton (1-39), who also got a run out, and Simon Mugava (1-34) made sure the home side were dismissed for 125.

Green lost Newport (4) and Burton (0) early on but Henry Moberley (27), Edward Pollock (60) and Sutton (27) guided the away team to 128-3 in the 28th over.

"The pitch was fairly spicy and after the game Himley regretted batting first," said Sutton.

"But I was very pleased to get a five-fer, the conditions suited me but there were some very good batsmen like Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Ben Smith and Nathan Round who I dismissed.

"Ed Pollock then finished the game off with 60 runs, so it was a good performance overall."

Victory moved Green up to second in the table and victory over Brockhampton at home on Saturday (noon start) would secure the runners-up spot.

Luke Radford returns to the fray after missing out because of work commitments.

Sutton said: "Finishing second would mean we are carrying our momentum into next season.

"We have a young team that can only get better and we'll look at recruitment in the winter to build on what we have done this season."