ASTWOOD Bank were crowned kings of the new Worcestershire Country Premier Division after defeating title rivals Stourbridge.

Bank hosted the long-time leaders who won the toss and elected to bat first.

Stour were dismissed for 119 and, after losing a wicket in the first over of their innings, Astwood Bank were led by Tom Underhill (71) to win by four wickets.

Elsewhere, Chris Brown (100) and Rizwan Chaudhry (71) ensured Redditch finished the season well by beating Pershore.

Rob Combes (94*) was the mainstay for Bewdley as they finished with a win by 18 runs against Stourport.

Sam Harn (5-30) helped Old Elizabethans win at relegated Feckenham, Worcester lost at Evesham where opener Muhammad Saqib's 85 helped the home side finish on a high despite being relegated.

Chaddesley Corbett became the first club to concede a match in the top division of Worcestershire league cricket after being unable to take on Old Hill.

Bromyard secured promotion from division one with an excellent all round performance from Zahid Saeed (75 and 5-24) to secure maximum points against Hagley.

Promotion contenders Colwall suffered an unexpected six wicket defeat at home to Droitwich Spa thanks to and undefeated century from Max Young and 89 by Martyn Davies.

Burghill beat Coombs Wood with help from 133 by Ben Owens and 5-42 from Hamish Cooke and are now just nine points behind Colwall.

Cookley beat Belbroughton to end their feint hope of promotion, relegated Bredon beat Pedmore by seven wickets and Oldswinford beat Worcester Nomads which all but ensures relegation for the Whitegates Farm outfit.

Lye secured the second promotion position in division two as Nadeem Hussain compiled 75 to guide them home to a five wicket win at Bartestree.

Ryan D’Oliveira smashed 95 as champions Ombersley maintained their unbeaten record with a win against Himbleton.

Himley beat Barnt Green to tighten their grip on third place and George Marshall (6-36) helped Bromsgrove climb in to fifth place with a victory against Enville.

Astwood Bank beat Halesowen to move level on points with Kidderminster who beat Brockhampton by two wickets which means Brockhampton are relegated.

It remains all to play for in division three as just twenty five points separate the top five clubs with one game to go.

Despite an excellent first innings performance by captain Danny Lowe (6-43), leaders Netherton missed the opportunity to win the title when they were undone by Kevin Gwynne (5-31) whose second innings haul helped Old Elizabethans to victory at the Memorial Ground.

Netherton remain thirteen points clear at the top and will require 12 points to win the title and/or nine points to secure promotion from their final game against Stourbridge next week.

Barnards Green are now second, 13 points behind the leaders after securing a comfortable victory against Stourbridge thanks to first innings half centuries from Rehaan Edavalath and Andy Wheeler.

This now means that mathematically they will require a maximum points win in their final match against Rushwick next week to be guaranteed promotion.

Old Hill sit just three points adrift in third place after a fine all round performance by Ravi Nagra (97 and 5-67) helped them to a maximum points win against Redditch to keep them well in the hunt as they travel to Avoncroft next week.

Should the top three stumble then Kempsey, who beat Martley by eight wickets to secure a maximum points win, are just six points further back in fourth, however it looks as though they will need to secure a win at Redditch next week and hope that two of the three teams above them slip up if they are to gatecrash the promotion places, which is also now the case for Old Vigornians who will feel extremely disappointed as they slipped from second to fifth after Rushwick seamer Liam Probert took 5-43 in the second innings to send them to an untimely defeat.

In the other match in the division Avoncroft beat Pershore.

Harborne became division four champions after securing the points they required from a winning draw against a spirited Bewdley side who fell just four runs short of the victory target.

However, second placed Worcester failed to gain promotion when they were convincingly beaten by Eastnor at Norton Barracks.

The result means that mathematically Alvechurch & Hopwood, who beat Halesowen convincingly, can still go up but would need to overturn a 20 point margin by securing a maximum points win at Romsley & Hunnington next week and hope that Worcester amass no more than three points at Astwood Bank.

Elsewhere, Five Ways Old Edwardians beat Stourport by seven wickets to leapfrog them into fourth position, Coombs Wood beat Romsley & Hunnington and Astwood Bank suffered a nine wicket defeat at the Hedges Ground against Bromsgrove which means they are now relegated.

The race for the division five title was thrown wide open as Taimur Ali (85) led third placed Netherton to victory against last week's table toppers Chaddesley Corbett and Lye gained a winning draw against Worcester Nomads.

This means that with just one week remaining Lye, who entertain Droitwich Spa next week are now six points ahead of Chaddesley Corbett who entertain Hagley.

Netherton, who travel to Hanley Castle & Upton, are a further eighteen points behind.

West Malvern were conceded to by relegated Feckenham, Droitwich Spa beat Colwall convincingly and Malvern beat Hanley Castle & Upton for whom Matt Pratley scored an excellent first innings century.

Tom Grainger scored a first innings century in Claverley's win at Hagley which means Hagley (who travel to Chaddesley Corbett next week) remain second from bottom, 11 points behind Worcester Nomads who visit relegated Feckenham.