Wem MAINTAINED their two-point lead over Madeley at the top of the Shropshire County Cricket League Premier Division with a comfortable win over Newtown on Saturday.

Rishav Das led the way once more for the Wem men as he scored yet another fantastic century in chasing down a target of 248 after Wem restricted Newport to 247-6 in their 50 overs on a sunny day in north Shropshire.

Newport opener Matthew Knight set the tone for Newport with a fine 67 while numbers three and four Ryan Davies and Tom Foulkes both fell short of adding half-centuries to the away team's total, as they fell for 49 and 48 respectively.

The rest of the Newport innings ground to a halt as Wem worked hard to keep them under 250, despite giving away 22 extras in their bowling.

Tom and James Astley shared four wickets between them as Das and Josh Gough also grabbed one each, with Tom Astley finishing with 2-39 from nine and James with 2-69 from 10.

Das chipped in with 1-31 from his 10 as he proved to be exceptionals economical while Gough's one wicket went for 17 runs in just four overs.

Danny Cohen and Ben Parry both went wicketless.

In reply, Das dominated proceedings from the very start as he took the fight to Newport's attack to keep Wem's title bid well on track.

His brutal innings was well-anchored at the other end by a number of batting partners, with Matthew Cohen's 43 the pick as each of Das's batting teammates held up one end and let him get on with the job, building worthwhile partnerships.

The first wicket fell on 46 while Sam Peate was second to go on 112.

Das himself became victim number three when he was out for 104 after being caught but Matthew Cohen (20 not out) and Steve Blenkinsopp's 16 not saw Wem to a six-wicket victory.

Jack Morris was the pick of Newport's seven bowlers with 2-28 from five.

The second XI's clash with Knockin & Kinnerley's seconds at the Nursery Ground was conceded with the home side taking home 20 points, while Wem will go unpunished.

On Sunday, the third XI made a good go of a close north Shropshire derby with Frankton, eventually taking the win in the last over.

Batting first, made a good start as opener Simon Thornley scored 41 and number Oliver Cooper 60 not out, steering Wem to 202-7 inside their 35 overs.

Marcus Bruce, batting at number four, scored 39 as Wem's top-order batsmen enjoyed their time at the crease, but skipper Lee Bowen would have fancied a higher score.

However, Frankton's bowlers began to get on top as Wem tried to u[p the run rate with Bowen and Luke Perry both going cheaply towards the end as Brad Stackhouse and Connor Bell, who was the pick of the visiting bowling with 3-32, struck.

In reply, Frankton's top and middle order looked to be winning the game for the Hardwick Park men as each of them made very good starts.

However, Dylan Evans's 32 proved to be the highest score for the team, with excellent contributions from Owen Dean's 29 and skipper Ollie Harris's 29. Opener Rhys Dean scored 21 but Wem took wickets at regular intervals through James Blenkinsopp's 3-45 and Simon Thornley's 3-18.

Tim Leach grabbed 1-28 and Parry's 1-24 as they grabbed the win with Frankton short on 192-9 from 35 overs.

On Saturday, Wem face Quatt in both fixtures, with the first XI on their travels for 1pm starts. The third XI have no fixture.