UNBEATEN Malvern 2nd XI entertained Harborne on Bank Holiday Monday at Regency Road.

MALVERN II v HARBORNE

Harborne won the toss and put Malvern in to bat. The Malvern openers made a good start, Tom Grove and Ian Walwyn putting on 47 in the opening 10 overs.

Grove was first to fall shortly afterwards for 23. James' and Ahmed's off-spin made it difficult for the batsmen and strangled the Malvern run rate, Walwyn trying to speed things up was caught of the bowling of James for a hard-fought 31. With contributions from Mark Mitchell (31), Dan Besgrove (33) and Ray Evans (15) pushed Malvern up to a respectable 183 for 8 off their 50 overs.

The Harborne reply started well. Openers James and Baswa took Harborne up to 88 without loss, James playing some nicely timed shots and Baswa with good fortune and some good hitting. Andy Croft was then introduced into the attack and got James LBW for 50.

Two needless run outs, good fielding and some inspired bowling changes brought Malvern back into the game.

Neil Thompson bowled economically with Mudway, Mitchell and Besgrove all chipped in with some important wickets.

It was Mudway who took the vital last wicket, Harborne finishing on 173 all out. Only an agonising 10 runs short of their target.

Malvern stay unbeaten at the top of the table taking a maximum 24 points from the game.