IN a thrilling game at Alvechurch, Malvern's batsmen showed great maturity and claimed a well deserved 20 point victory.

ALVECHURCH & HOPWOOD II v MALVERN II

Malvern skipper Besgrove invited Alvechurch to bat on a soggy wicket. Payton and Tomlinson raced away, scoring freely, with Sumner and Mudway having no luck. The introduction of Johnny Dovey changed that as he snapped up Tomlinson (49) and Partridge (0) in his opening over.

Azim Rashid, on his debut, bowled well and picked up his first wicket with Malvern showing great determination in the field. The pick of the bowlers were Dovey, who picked up 4-12 off 7 overs with excellent line and length, and Besgrove 3-18 off 10 overs, including the wicket of captain King. Alvechurch finished on 200-9 with their youngster Ginty scoring a run off the last ball.

On paper Malvern had an excellent chance of reaching the target and Cox and Walwyn proved this to be the case. They shared an opening stand of 95 before Cox was bowled for an excellent 52, including two sixes. A mini-collapse ensued, with Prosser, Cullen and Walker all going cheaply

Rashid batted sensibly with Walwyn before the latter was bowled for a patient 48 with the score of 117-5. Alvechurch must have sensed a win but Besgrove had other ideas. He scored a brisk 36, ably assisted by Rashid (20) and Sumner (10). With the last wicket partnership of Dovey and Mudway at the crease, Malvern needed 11 to win. Dovey showed great maturity and eventually scored the winning runs with a boundary leaving Alvechurch somewhat dejected.