HAVING won the toss and decided to field, Worcester were once again indebted to the leader of their attack, Liam Weston, as his 5-38 ensured Pedmore were restricted to 179 all out in Worcestershire League Division One.

Weston took two early wickets before former Worcester City goalkeeper Danny Mcdonnell and Paul Pickering, who both struck 46, began to repair the innings.

Overseas star Malhotra (32) batted well for Pedmore as they reached the comfortable position of 150-3 after 30 overs. However the introduction of captain Liam Kelleher (4-24) coincided with the return of Weston as Pedmore collapsed to their below par total.

The home side began their reply poorly with the loss of both openers with only five on the board, but Kelleher (27) and Dan McKay rebuilt the innings with a partnership of 64, before the spin of Malhotra began to cause the middle-order problems.

Ryan D’Oliveira (19) and McKay (54) fell in quick succession as Worcester struggled to 115-7 After a short rain delay, the players returned to the field and Simon Keyte and Oliver Peppiatt were able to push their side to 137-7 — one run ahead of the required winning draw total when the umpires decided enough was enough.

Elsewhere in Division One, the weather robbed Pershore of an exciting win when they travelled to Astwood Bank.

After winning the toss, the home side asked Pershore to bat and an opening stand of 48 between Liam Ridings (29) and David White (36) laid the foundations of the innings.

Ciaran Sanders (36) and Chris Ridings (68) then put together a stand of 93 as Pershore reached 175, but the visitors collapsed to just 212 all out.

In their reply, Astwood Bank struggled against the varied Pershore attack and slumped to 80-5.

Peter Alexander (43) and Andrew Alexander (24) helped to retrieve the situation as they inched towards a victory, but the introduction of Luke Dalley back into the attack and Lee Wilks saw the loss of four quick wickets.

Despite having played in the rain for over half an hour, Pershore needing just one wicket to win from four overs and Astwood Bank 33 runs short of their target on 179-9, the umpires decided the conditions were unsuitable to continue the match.

Meanwhile, Droitwich moved into second place with a winning draw at home to Bewdley.

In Division Two, Burghill lead the way after a winning draw at home to Colwall and Belbroughton’s abandoned match at Monmouth was enough for them to hold onto second place as Worcester Dominies’ victory at Coombs Wood was the only other game to survive the weather.

Division Three has one side, Rushwick, with two maximums after they thrashed Alvechurch. Harborne are just four points behind after scraping home by two wickets against Old Vigornians.

Third-placed Chaddesley crushed Himbleton and the only other game played contained a fine 128 not out by Matt Branch of Enville, who piled up 276-2 to draw against Harvington, who made just 82-7 and failed to garner a single point.

Division Four had just one triumphant side after Brintons’ crushing win at home to Martley with Lee Waldron taking 8-31.

Bromsgrove and Old Elizabethans head the Division Five table as they were the only sides to follow last week’s wins with winning draws.