MONDAY'S victory at fellow strugglers Coventry and North Warwickshire threw Kidderminster a vital relegation lifeline.

They are still bottom of the Birmingham and District Premier League but are just nine points behind WB Dartmouth and 10 behind Coventry.

With two games left, they can still keep their place in the top division, especially with performances like the Bank Holiday one.

In stark contrast, Kidderminster were hammered by Cannock on Saturday after being skittled out for 70 runs.

However, on Monday, a good opening stand of 79 between James Pipe and Richard Wilkinson set the tone and they never looked back.

Pipe was first out for 40 but skipper Mark Mansell carried on the good work and helped in a partnership of 53 before he was trapped lbw for 27.

Willkinson was playing some fine cricket but his next partner, Phil Newport, stayed for just three balls before being caught behind for 0.

Richard Bradford then joined Wilkinson as the two teenagers added 84.

Bradford was the fourth man out, scoring 43 runs from just 54 balls.

Paul Thomas was 7 not out at the close of the innings but the star of the show was Wilkinson (97 not out).

He faced 171 balls and batted for 185 minutes to help Kidderminster to a decent total of 226-4 on a slow pitch.

It did not take the visitors long to put the skids under the home side.

Newport was the first to strike with Coventry only having scored 13 runs in five overs.

Mandeep Singh then took three wickets in two overs to leave Coventry reeling at 21-4.

Newport got into the act again and took his second wicket in the 11th over but Coventry steadied the ship and doubled their score before Singh struck again to make it 43-6.

Coventry eventually dug their heels in through Parker and Hopkins.

They put on 82 runs before Singh and Newport were recalled and the latter finally won the game.

Parker was out for 56, caught by Symonds with two overs remaining, and Newport struck again in the same over.

KCC were home and dry, thanks to Singh (5-42) and Newport (5-52).

Kidderminster 226-4, Coventry and North Warwickshire 214 all out.

Kidderminster were in tatters at Cannock with Wilkinson, Pipe, Amit Sharma and Singh departing cheaply.

Skipper Mansell was unhappy with his LBW decision for a duck.

The only worthwhile contributions were from former county and England all-rounder Newport (22) and Bradford (25).

Mansell had thought 120 runs would have given Kidderminster a chance and this might have been about right.

Singh collected three wickets for just 10 runs but there were not enough runs to work with.

Kidderminster 70, Cannock 71-3.

Kidderminster seconds were on the losing end of a draw against top-of-the-table Cannock on Saturday.

The visitors batted first and scored 239-8 off 50 overs, Andy Siwicki taking 3-59 and Godfrey Lamb 2-35.

In reply, KCC scored 161-6 with Kaleem Ashraf hitting 58no and Craig Siwicki 32.

Cannock 239-8 (11 points), KCC 161-6 (7).

On Monday, the seconds entertained Coventry and beat their visitors by 10 wickets for 20 points.

Kidderminster needed to win to have a chance of avoiding relegation.

Mark Derrick bowled well, taking 5-20 off 12 overs, with good support from A Siwicki 2-24.

KCC beat the 106 target without losing a wicket in 23 overs with Steve Davies on 60 and Craig Wood 42.

Fixtures, Saturday: 1sts v Knowle & Dorridge (noon), Knowle & Dorridge v 2nds (12.30pm), Worcester Corinthians v 3rds (1pm). Sunday: Barnards Green v 1sts (1.30pm), 2nds v Barnards Green (1.30pm).