MALVERN slumped to a seven wicket defeat at Bewdley after a disappointing batting performance meant they were always struggling in this WCL Division Two game.

BEWDLEY 1ST XI v MALVERN 1ST XI

Malvern lost three early wickets, Mark Baugh taking an ambitious shot, Luke Halion bowled and Rob Francis caught at mid wicket.

Paul Young and Adam Dovey repaired the innings with scores of 51 and 36 respectively. Steve Carter and Jeremy Lee both scored 18 but a total of 172 was well below par on a perfect batting wicket and fast outfield.

Lee claimed an early wicket but after that Beard and Jones batted sensibly to put Bewdley close to victory and Edwards hit a quick fire 31 to clinch victory.

MALVERN 2ND XI v BEWDLEY 2ND XI

MALVERN Seconds (second in WCL) entertained Bewdley on Saturday in a game that ended in a thrilling last ball win for the visitors.

Invited to bat, Malvern's Dave Cox continued his excellent form with Walwyn (17). After he was stumped and Postans (15) departed, a middle order collapse occurred until Mark Cox joined his brother. David passed the 50 mark again this season and continued to develop a good partnership until Mark senior was out for 28.

The tail wagged a bit but tight bowling from Bewdley especially the spinner Harris restricted the score. However, David Cox continued to score freely and was out with three overs remaining for an excellent 94. Hooper and Hawker took the score past 200 with Hawker scrambling 15 off the last over. Malvern finished on 215-8 with Harris taking 4-61.

Cox and Hawker bowled tightly in reply, and early on restricted Bewdley to 20 off the first 10 overs. Cox was unable to claim his regular early wickets as skipper Jones scored mainly in fours, supported by Mayer (28). Jauncey produced the breakthrough at 58, bringing Brown to join Jones, who then seemed to take the game away from Malvern.

However, Cox changed ends to remove Jones (69) and the middle order, putting pressure back on Bewdley, who needed five runs off the last over for victory. Cox took two wickets in the last over but Bewdley scrambled home off the last ball, a disappointing result for Malvern.

Cox has now taken 39 wickets only halfway through the season, a new record for the second team division.

Thanks to Francis of Malvern for match sponsorship.