STUMBLING Stone crashed to a nine-wicket defeat in their Worcestershire League Division five derby fixture at lowly Chainwire.

The surprise result was bad news for Stone's title hopes as they were pushed down to fifth in the table.

Kidderminster side Chainwire are just above the relegation zone in eighth place and chalked up their first victory on Saturday.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Stone lost wickets at regular intervals and their top five batsman were back in the pavilion with only 25 on the scoreboard.

Some resistance was shown by Pete Durnell (17) and Fred Buxton (14) but Stone were eventually all out for 64 runs.

Steve Horne (4-17) and Stephen James (3-12) did most of the damage.

With such a small target to defend, it was always going to be difficult for Stone's bowlers.

Kevin Hatton claimed Smith's wicket when the score was at 40 but Chainwire reached the required runs in 17 overs with Manning undefeated on 35.

Stone 64, Chainwire 65-1.