LUCTONIANS v MALVERN

MALVERN slumped to a disappointing three wicket defeat away at Luctonians after another abject batting display in this Worcestershire County League Division Two first XI fixture.

Malvern lost Andrew Cullen early on, Ollie Bendall typically went on the offensive before being dismissed for 25. Mark Baugh fell for 17, Adam Dovey made 25 but a total of 125 was a very poor effort even allowing for a wicket which offered remarkable bounce from the slow bowlers.

The opening bowlers, Rob Francis and Jeremy Lee, again gave everything they could to try and turn the game around for Malvern and at 21-5 there was the thin prospect of a Malvern win.

The danger was that it only would take one good innings from a Lucs batsman to get them close and Platford was that batsman, scoring 54 to take the home side to the brink of victory.

An excellent effort by the bowlers and fielders but it is the batsmen who need to improve, and fast.

AMBLECOTE III v MALVERN III MALVERN Thirds came away with an unlikely league win on Saturday.

Batting first, Malvern found runs hard to come by due to some accurate Amblecote bowling and wickets fell steadily. Smith (27-3 off 12) was the pick of the bowlers and Malvern could only get four batsmen into double figures. Max Sharp (19) and Josh Alison (15) managed to stear the visitors to 97 all out, a total that never looked defendable.

Needing only just over two an over, Amblecote were pegged back by Malvern's veteran spinners Buckley and Heritage. Wickets fell steadily and the run rate was contained but it was only with the departure of Tsang (29) to a one-handed diving catch by Hale that victory seemed a possibility.

However, Amblecote clawed back to 94-7 but three quick wickets from Sharp clinched victory. The last man to leave was Gill whose despairing pull was grasped by Sean Smith, who was instantly engulfed by his team mates and Malvern emerged winners by one run. Buckley ended with figures of 5-20 off 12 and deservedly got man-of-the-match.