Sevenoaks Vine eased their Shepherd Neame Kent League Premier Division relegation worries with a four-wicket home win over Bexley on Saturday.

They moved out of the bottom-two after successfully chasing down the 249-9 target they had been set by Bexley in the first round of win/lose matches.

Jimmy Peirson (62) and Jack Bell (40) were the main contributors to Bexley’s total in their 50 overs. In reply the Vine made rapid progress led by Luke Blackaby (76 not out), Oliver Durrell (55) and Ollie Howick (50) as they raced to victory with over nine overs to spare.

The win means Vine leapfrog Sibton Park who lost by six wickets at Bromley.

Park found batting hard work against the Bromley attack, with Dominic Reed taking 4-36 and Wayne Morgan 3-29 as Park were bowled out for 174. Jake Benfield top scored with 53 while Morgan’s 54 provided the backbone of the Bromley reply as they reached their target in the 29th over.

Basement club Whitstable’s plight worsened with a six-wicket defeat at Beckenham.

Waheed Ali (3-14) was the pick of the Beckenham bowlers as Whitstable were dismissed for a below-par 156 and then Kent player Alex Blake took centre stage in the home side’s reply, racing to 53 off 37 balls to set up a comfortable victory with 21 overs to spare.

Leaders Hartley Country Club continued their remorseless march towards the title with a seven-wicket success over Blackheath.

Only three Blackheath players reached double figures in their total of 93. Charlie Hemphrey (4-11) was Hartley's main wicket-taker who coasted to victory in 16 overs .

Lordswood, second at the start of the day, swapped places with Bickley Park, the latter winning by 60 runs

Park made 193 all out batting first, Dan Magin top scoring with 47, and Lordswood looked set for victory in reply on 106-3.

But then Magin turned the game with a hat-trick, dismissing Zac Elkin, Matt Greenwood and Jonathan Price en route to finishing with 4-23 as Lordswood slipped to 133 all out.