WEST Malvern won the toss and elected to bat first on a crumbling, unreliable surface.

WEST MALVERN v ABBERLEY

The unpredictability of the wicket made strokeplay difficult, and only a few lusty blows by all batsmen enabled scoring progress to be made. Dudley, Cooper and Alex Hall accounted for the majority of West Malvern's runs, with extras contributing significantly. The best of the Abberley bowlers were Massey and Bedford, with three wickets apiece, and the West were bowled out for 120.

The Abberley innings followed a very similar pattern to that of West Malvern, with the first three batsmen trusting to more than a little luck, the score rapidly rising to 80-2.

The return of Sam Beaumont to the attack in partnership with Rob Harker reduced Abberley to 89-6, and all was to play for.

The combined spin attack of Dudley and Cooper kept the run rate low but with the score on 96-7, the West conceded 12 runs in one over, eight coming in byes with the bounce and turn defeating the wicketkeeper.

Despite the uphill struggle, two more wickets fell with the score on 109, but the final pair of B Lythall and T Bedford rode their luck, and combined with some excellent defence, managed to struggle home with just two overs to spare.

This was an excellent game of cricket played in very good spirit.