COLWALL’S new overseas player Ancil Nedd claimed his first five-wicket haul and captain Ben Wheeler lashed a blistering 96 off 41 balls.

But they were still unable to force a maiden victory as they went down by 58 runs at Hagley in Worcestershire League Division One.

And to add to their woes they were reduced to 10 men when all-rounder Matt Morgan suffered a fractured knee cap while chasing a ball in the field. The injury is almost certainly going to rule him out of action for the rest of the season, Having asked the home side to bat, Colwall got off to a disappointing start, spilling several catches early on.

But Nedd’s off-spin proved fruitful as he went through the middle order before finishing with 5-67.

Opener Joe Lennon reached 85 and although Mike Gooch took wickets, the hosts managed to total 237-8 from their 50 overs.

The target was by no means beyond reach on a sound pitch, but Colwall’s early batting once again failed to fire with half the side dismissed for barely 50 runs inside the opening 15 overs.

Henry Coleman (20) had provided a brief assault on the home attack, but the real fireworks came from skipper Wheeler.

He smashed eight fours and nine sixes before falling four runs short of his century when he was trapped LBW. Colwall then quickly folded to 179 all out with less than 18 overs to spare.

Colwall host Cookley on Saturday (1pm).

The seconds were left chasing a Hagley total of 312-6, but achieved it in flamboyant style, winning by three wickets at Stowe Lane.

Jack Hughes (3-59), James Febery (2-93) and Idris Mohammed (1-53) took wickets and starred with the bat. Mohammed (43) and Will Bishop (53) gave Colwall a fluent start, while Hughes (42) and Ash Jones (23) kept up the momentum before Febery came in to hammer six sixes in his brutal 55.

Simon Davies reached 51 before the victory was sealed with an over remaining.

A much-depleted thirds had to settle for a losing draw as they finished 16 runs behind Ross on Wye in their Marches League Division Two clash. Ten-man fourths proved no match for Ross seconds in a one-sided Division Four match, crashing to a 10-wicket defeat.