Teenager Akhil Venugopalan helped steer in-form Minster towards another win in the Kent Cricket League Premier Division.

Minster beat St Lawrence & Highland Court by 159 runs at Gilbert Hall on Saturday, climbing up to third in the table, jumping above next weekend’s opponents Lordswood, who suffered a second straight loss.

St Lawrence won the toss and inserted Minster, who made 290-9 off 50 overs, including Venugopalan’s 149, a knock which included 18 fours and seven maximums.

Aron Nijjar (55) hit a half century as he and 18-year-old Venugopalan – who has played a handful of Kent 2nd XI games this season - put on 118 runs for the third wicket.

Nijjar was the main man with the ball, with his five-wicket haul helping restrict St Lawrence to 131 in reply. Max Luckett also took 3-16.

Lordswood dropped from joint top to fourth place after losing to fellow title challengers Hayes.

Hayes won by five wickets after successfully chasing down 293 at their home ground.

Lordswood won the toss and batted first, with Max Wood’s 117 and 71 from their captain Calum MacLeod guiding them towards a competitive total. They’ll be disappointed to have slipped from 273-5 to 293 all out, however, as the tail end struggled for runs.

A 162-run fourth-wicket partnership got Hayes into a winning position, with Rory Low unbeaten on 129 and William MacVicar adding 61 to the total. Alex Blake’s 33 helped push them towards victory which came off a six, hit by Tom Gallagher.

Tunbridge Wells top the table ahead of Hayes by just five points.

They successfully defended 239-9 away at Bromley after bowling the hosts out for 204.

Opening T Wells pair Viraj Bhatia (28) and Christopher Williams (42) put on 71 and Ollie Morgan hit a steady 69.

Bromley opener Stan Greenleaf (62) top scored for the hosts but they lost by 35 runs. Williams returned 3-37.

Sunday’s KCL Twenty20 action included a six-wicket win for Tunbridge Wells (140-4) against Holmesdale (139-7).

Opener Morgan scored 54 off 36 balls for Wells while James Poulsom was 39 not out and Drew Beazleigh 31.

Sandwich Town (281-5) won by 60 runs in their league game against Holmesdale.

Ryan Davies hit 43 for hosts Sandwich, Shahmeer Malik 59 and Rory Smith a run-a-ball 83 not out, while Zack Fagg was unbeaten on 49.

Holmesdale were 221 all out in reply. Roshan Jayatissa picked up an impressive 4-8 off his 7.3 overs, which included both of the opposition openers, while Jake Guinan took 5-42.

Sandwich backed up their league win with a T20 victory over Broadstairs on Sunday, Davies (63) and Smith (43 not out) starring in a successful run chase. Jayatissa took another four wickets in that victory.

Blackheath remain bottom of the KCL Premier table after a six-wicket loss as Bexley chased down their total of 151 thanks largely to Matthew Stiddard’s 83 not out.

Earlier, Aiden Griggs (4-17) and Louie James (3-27) had been the pick of the Bromley bowlers.

League leaders Tunbridge Wells head to Holmesdale this Saturday while Hayes head to Bexley’s Manor Way.

Lordswood and Minster meet at the Peter Edmonds Ground, St Lawrence & Highland Court host Bromley while Blackheath host Sandwich Town.