Words by Paul Smith (Stumped4Words) – Birmingham Mail insert here

A fine all-round display from Swapnil Gugale sparked table-topping Harborne to a fourth consecutive Birmingham Premier League Division Two win over Barnards Green.

The Malvern-based visitors eventually fell to a 97-run defeat after their hosts’ Indian pro followed an elegant 118-ball 96 with a tidy ten-over spell of off-spin which yielded only 21 runs.

Harborne’s useful 248 also owed plenty to an enterprising effort from their lower-order which was very effectively marshalled by Tom Payne’s aggressive half-century.

And following the interval three wickets apiece from Mike Bevan and George Land then completed the job as Barnards Green were bowled out in the 42nd over for 151.

As a result of this latest success Harborne – who are the only unbeaten side in Division Two at the end of the opening five-match block of white ball action – sit 11 points clear of a chasing pack which is headed by newly-promoted Lichfield, Bromsgrove and Wolverhampton.

“We’re delighted with the start we’ve made,” captain Tom Arnold said.

“Barnards Green are a really good side who were one of my tips to really challenge this season so this was a really good win for us.

“Swapnil batted really well but their spinners pegged us back in the middle and it took a really good knock from Payney to get us close to 250. He batted really sensibly to start with then launched it in the closing stages.

“Our bowlers then held their lengths very well with the new white ball which pings off the bat and sometimes goes everywhere in the power play.

“250 was below par on a good pitch but Mike got us early wickets then Swapnil bowled superbly at their left-handers.”

Opener Gugale’s fine knock held together a home top order in which the in-form Karan Bharaj fell to Leicestershire’s George Rhodes for 17 but three other batsmen failed to get off the mark.

As a result, Harborne slipped from 71 or one to 117 for five before Payne joined Gugale to move the scoreboard to 159 when the Indian ace was trapped lbw by Ryan Tongue four short of a well-deserved century.

Whereas Gugale reached the boundary rope 11 times during his fine knock Payne opted for the aerial route and in the company of a sequence of lower-order partners he proceeded to clear it on seven occasions.

For a second consecutive week left-arm seamer Dan Wright (21) made a very telling contribution with the bat, adding 68 vital runs with eight-wicket partner Payne which boosted their team to 248.

Rhodes who took 3-26 was the pick of the seven-man Barnards Green attack while there were two wickets apiece for Tongue and opening bowler Phil Harris.

The visitors found batting against the new ball equally challenging and with Bevan (3-20) grabbing the vital scalps of skipper Tongue, Rhodes and the prolific Zain Ul-Hassan they were soon struggling at 35 for four.

With Gugale’s thrifty spell keeping things tight, Oliver Rogoff then dug in resolutely to compile a 93-ball 57, adding 46 with sixth-wicket partner Harris (25).

However, once some sharp fielding produced consecutive run outs, George Land (3-27) mopped up the tail to send Arnold’s team into next week’s first red-ball outing at third-placed Bromsgrove in good heart.

“We’ll lose a game at some point,” Arnold acknowledged, “And we start the red ball season with tough games against Bromsgrove and Bridgnorth who are both going well.

“This part of the season is when you always start to see separation between teams, so we just need to keep doing the right things and the rest will take care of itself.”