WILL Murtagh judged a Malvern College run chase to perfection with an innings of 44no to steer the side to a five-wicket victory.

MALVERN COLLEGE v FREE FORESTERS

In this traditional centre piece to the annual celebration of the College's commemoration, the School XI had earlier pegged back their visitors to a score of 168. All the Malvern seamers bowled a tight line and none of the Foresters' experienced batsmen got going and it took them 54 overs to reach their total.

This left Malvern 40 overs to reach their target. Wood and Gifford were dismissed cheaply but Charles Tolchard was timing the ball fluently and Ben Edkins was weighing in with the some typically muscular blows. Unfortunately Tolchard was run out and Edkins chanced his arm once too often so it was left to Will Murtagh and captain Harry Bailey to take up the challenge.

Bailey battled but perished in the pursuit of quick runs before Murtagh put the issue beyond doubt with a flurry of boundaries.