BADSEY bounced back to third place after defeating Stratford by six wickets on Saturday.

It was an important toss to win after overnight rain left a wicket that was always going to get drier as the game progressed.

There was early success for Goldstraw with the dismissal of Sagar and the bowling hold continued as Stratford slum-ped to 61-5 off 24 overs.

Dave Powell, though, spilled a simple chance off Cunning-ham, who went on to score a crucial 84 runs before being dismissed in the 42nd over.

Other wickets fell at regular intervals due to the handling and quick thinking of Stuart Ashe, who produced two catches and a run out.

Badsey established a sound opening base after tea with Wayne Pearse (38) and Bryan Jater (44) taking the score to 98 off 25 overs before their demise.

Tony Cowley, with an unbe-aten 44, saw Badsey to victory with 19 balls to spare.

The next day Inkberrow posted a creditable 199 off their allotted 40 overs.

Rankin (81) was the main scorer with excellent supported from Brookes (31), Harriss (32) and Ace (23).

Andy Mabbett was the pick of the Badsey attack with 3-35, in addition to a couple of catches.

Nine-year-old Nick Powell took his first Badsey wicket in only his second over.

Badsey once again laid the foundation for an onslaught at the end with Pearce (86), getting good support from Mark Moss (29) in a second wicket stand of 63 and Andy Mabbett (18) in a fourth wicket stand of 61 made from just 42 balls.

However, with wickets fall-ing regularly after Pearse's departure, Badsey were 11 runs short at the close.

Scrafton (4-42) and Rankin (2-32) were the pick of the Inkberrow attack.