Inspired by a brilliant Tejas Wagle century Harborne secured a winning draw worth 16 points from their rain-affected Birmingham Premier League Division Two visit to Himley.
Wagle raced to a characteristically fluent 128 from just 122 balls and with Swapnil Gugale (55) and Tom Arnold (44) offering good support the visitors closed their 55-over allocation with a formidable 272 for seven.
Slow left-armer Graeme White took 4-66 for Himley whose response was then curtailed by three overs due to a shower.
And despite Ollie Walker contributing a useful 65, a tidy spell of Gugale off-spin ensured Himley never seriously threatened to claim the spoils before eventually closing out a draw at 209 for eight.
This result leaves second-placed Harborne 28 points behind leaders Wolverhampton at the mid-point of the season with Bromsgrove and Lichfield, who are both also very much part of the promotion picture, a further 15 points in arrears.
“We’re happy with our first half of the season overall,” captain Arnold said, “Albeit we’ve faltered a bit in the last few weeks and haven’t always played our best cricket.
“Picking up results when you’re not completely firing is obviously encouraging, but with a couple of important players likely to be fit again soon we’re well-placed for the rest of the season.
“Tejas batted brilliantly on a good pitch to get us from 110 for five to 270.
“It was always going to be a difficult chase for Himley and even though they had a decent partnership in the middle they ended up shutting up shop and although we bowled OK in truth we never really looked like bowling them out.”
After being inserted, Harborne lost Jamie Harris in the second over before Karan Bharaj (20) and Gugale took the score to 48.
However, the Indian ace then became the first of former Northamptonshire spinner White’s four victims following a 64-ball 55 containing 11 boundaries, and when Jimmy Clifford quickly joined his illustrious teammate back in the away changing room the visitors were under pressure at 115 for five.
At this point Wagle had cruised to 26, and he was then joined by skipper Arnold in a match-defining sixth-wicket partnership.
With Wagle playing the dominant role while Arnold – who finished with a 68-ball 44 – offered solid support, the pair added 142 in 22 overs before both fell to White in the closing stages.
Wagle found the rope 13 times and cleared it twice in his superb knock while White received good support in the home attack from James Lunn (2-53).
When Gugale trapped Callum Lea (33) in front, Himley’s quest for 272 in 52 overs had struggled to 58 for three.
However, a fine fourth-wicket alliance between Jeevan Klair, who made 49 from 84 balls, and Walker, whose 86-ball 65 contained to sixes and five fours, then added 118 in 25 overs.
But once Gugale removed Walker to make it 189 for five the home side were more than happy to settle for a losing draw which they achieved with relative comfort despite losing two late wickets to the returning Mike Bevan who as a result finished with 3-27.
Gugale’s 14-over spell was rewarded with the tidy figures of 3-55 while George Land and Arnold snared a victim apiece.
