SUPER Stourbridge went top of the Worcester County League thanks to a compelling nine wicket win over Evesham.

While all their rivals were reduced to watching the rain come down, Stourbridge's Amblecote ground dried out sufficiently for play to start at 4pm.

Skipper Josh Banks paid tribute to all the groundstaff who worked tirelessly to get the game underway.

He revealed: "We did start at 1pm but only managed to get one and a half overs in before we had to come off.

"We finally got going at 4pm which was enough time for Evesham to get their 50 overs in.

"At first the ball started going around the park a bit, but I thought if we took the pace off the ball it might do the trick!

Evesham were well set early in their innings with opener Sadem Khan cracking 63

Banks then turned to off-spinner Dominic O'Reilly who kept a lid on things by taking three for 16.

Jitesh Jiven-Patel picked up three for 18 while strike bowler Dan Wale claimed two for 28 as Evesham finally found themselves restricted to a modest 135 for nine.

Banks insisted: "It was a really good performance. The fielding was absolutely fantastic when you consider it was a wet day and a wet ball, but we held all of our catches - and some that weren't given! It was a superb display.".

Stourbridge were given a revised target of just 85 runs to chase from 23 overs on the Duckworth Lewis System.

They soon made light of that task.

In-form opener Jujhar Johal carried his bat for 50 not out off 55 balls, his innings containing six four's.

Opening partner Harshad Petel perished on 10 before Matt Bradley arrived at the crease to help complete victory with 14 not out as Stourbridge cruised to a winning 85 for one with 3.2 overs to spare.

A delighted Banks added: "In the end, it was a pretty convincing victory and it has left everyone at the club buzzing at the moment but we cannot afford to relax.

"We entertain third placed Astwood Bank this Saturday at Amblecote and that will be a real test. Even without Steve Adshead, Astwood Bank have a group of players who have been together for a long time and I'm expecting a really tough game".