MALVERN travelled to Kidderminster Victoria on Saturday and came away with a losing draw after another poor batting performance in this Worcestershire County League division two game.

KIDDERMINSTER VICTORIA v MALVERN

Malvern captain David Arnold won the toss and invited the home side to bat. Malvern enjoyed a dream start with Jeremy Lee clean bowling two batsmen in his first over. Kidderminster briefly rallied with Edwards but at 45-5, Malvern were in complete control.

However, a good partnership between Brace and Marley put the home side back in the game and a total of 172 was a lot better than it looked likely to be after 20 overs. Lee bowled an excellent spell and was superbly backed-up by Anthony Arnold with his clever changes of pace. Rob Coughtrie also took a brilliant catch in the gully.

Malvern again enjoyed a bright and breezy start with Lee and Mark Baugh in good form, though neither went on to make a significant contribution. Ollie Bendall played well on his first team debut until he was caught and bowled.

Malvern then contributed to their own downfall with two run outs. Luke Halion played some classy shots before being adjudged lbw. Dave Arnold gave the innings some momentum and for a time a Malvern win seemed possible, but his departure signalled the end of the run chase as Anthony Arnold and Rob Coughtrie saw the final overs out with few alarms for a losing draw.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Malvern entertain Hagley.