BELBROUGHTON v MALVERN

MALVERN turned in a very good performance on Saturday to come away with a winning draw at Belbroughton.

Malvern lost the toss and Mark Baugh departed early on but then Adam Dovey and Ollie Bendall consolidated and after a break for rain the innings began to gain momentum.

Dovey was bowled for 15 but then Bendall took control of the game peppering the boundaries with effortless ease, it seemed certain he would register another league century but was cruelly denied when he fell for 99, another brilliant innings with seven 6s and seven 4s.

Luke Halion came to the wicket and played a typically stylish innings finishing unbeaten on 44. Rob Francis, Jeremy Lee and Steven Carter made useful contributions and Malvern finished on 222 in 47 overs.

Belbroughton started brightly until the dangerous Scriven fell to Francis, superbly caught by Baugh. Early wickets meant the home side never really had chance of attaining 223 for victory but 175 was a possibility for an winning draw.

Skipper Halion shrewdly rotated his bowling attack and deployed inventive fields to restrict the home side's progress.

There was excellent bowling by Lee, Francis and Adam Dovey but Tom Poole was the pick of the bowlers, seemingly getting better each week.

Good catching by Antony Arnold and Bendall backed Malvern's bowling up and though they couldn't take the final wicket, 18 points was a decent return, the only concern is Malvern are still bowling too many wides.