MALVERN v

BELBROUGHTON

MALVERN entertained Belbroughton on Saturday in the WCL division two and were beaten by 52 runs on a sweltering hot day at Regency Road.

Belbroughton batted first and made a steady start with Adam Dovey and Rob Francis both bowling good spells. Day joined young opener Pandow and they produced a very good partnership.

Skipper David Arnold introduced Matt Hooley into the attack but after the second over he had to leave the field after sustaining a hamstring injury.

This left Malvern with only ten men and Arnold turned to his part-time bowlers, unfortunately they never really settled and this gave Belbroughton some impetus, Nightingale particularly enjoying himself. Runs continued to come, Day completed a fine century and a score of 263 was posted. Malvern, however, deserved credit for sticking to their task.

In reply, Malvern started in aggressive fashion with both Jeremy Lee and Mark Baugh in good form, but neither was able to convert their good start into a substantial innings.

Belbroughton managed to apply the brake, Francis hit a breezy 21, Dovey again made useful runs but the rate had increased to neally ten an over when Arnold walked to the wicket.

He immediately went on the offensive and with some classy shots all round the wicket dragged Malvern back into the game. Luke Halion and Steve Carter both played some useful cameos but Carter's run out was a big blow and virtually ended Malvern's chance of victory.

A few more boundaries from Arnold's bat briefly threatened a revival but his dismissal meant Matt Hooley had to come out to bat, bravely he hobbled to the wicket and even managed a sumptuous four, but Belbroughton were not to be denied as they won the game in the 48th over.