There was a return to winning ways for St Lawrence & Highfield Court as they extended their lead at the top of the Kent League Premier Division.

They hosted Whitstable in penultimate place in the table and cruised to a comfortable victory. The visitors elected to bat but were dismissed for 112. Darren Stevens took 4 for 23, Ollie Curtis 3 for 26, and Richard Heywood 3 for 28.

Matt Hammond hit a quick-fire 50 and Dan Stickels scored 38 not out as they cruised home by eight wickets at the start of the seventeenth over.

Their position at the top was strengthened when Hayes fell to their second consecutive defeat. Seventh placed Sevenoaks Vine won the toss and chose to bat first. Brad Hope was the mainstay of their innings with 69 as they finished on 185 for 7. Will MacVicar was the most successful bowler with 3 for 37.

Although the visitors put on 70 for the first innings with Finnan Bryan scoring 41, they lost wickets regularly. Rory Low scored 35 but they fell twenty runs short as they were bowled out for 165. John Bowden returned 4 for 25 and Luke Schlemmer 4 for 37.

Third placed Blackheath took advantage by winning at Bexley and leaping over them into second. The hosts elected to bat first but had no answer to the bowling of Arafat Bhuiyan. He took the first four wickets and finished with 4 for 42. Shaun Evans put up some resistance scoring 45, but Tejpal Birdi’s 3 for 36 helped restrict the home team to 154.

At 42 for 4, the Heath still had plenty to do. Matthew Golding then dropped anchor and his 59 not out saw his team through despite Zeph Netherway taking 4 for 24 in his ten overs. The three wicket victory was achieved with nine and a half overs unused.

Despite winning at Minster, Tunbridge Wells remain in fourth place. They were asked to bat first and scored 268 for 8. Viraj Bhatia scored 69, Ollie Morgan 51, James Poulsom 35, and Alex Williams 30.

Kai Appleby cracked 76 at better than a run a ball after James Thompson had smashed 43 from 29 balls. Although Haider Zaidi accumulated 33. the Sheppey based side were bowled out for 249. Matthew Lukisch was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 32.

Having won their last two matches, bottom team Lordswood had given themselves an outside chance of avoiding the drop but their hopes faded when well beaten at Bromley. They batted first having won the toss but could only muster 148, despite Ed Taylor’s 43. All five bowlers took two wickets in a team bowling performance.

Ryan Cartwright top scored in the return with 42 not out. Ollie Streets was also unbeaten on 30 after Stan Greenleaf had scored 30 at the top of the innings. They won by seven wickets with more than eleven overs to spare.