DROITWICH Spa snatched defeat from the jaws of a draw after an abysmal batting collapse saw them lose six wickets for 15 runs and the match in the final over at Bewdley.
The visitors quickly slumped from 155-3 to 170 all out to lose a Worcestershire County League Division One encounter which they seemed to be heading for a respectable losing draw.
Martyn Davies and Jez Hanson put on 111 for the third wicket but the dismissal of the former for an excellent 73 sparked the batting fiasco as Andy Platt and Jack Mills picked up four wickets each.
Earlier Bewdley had scored 252-5 with half-centuries for Nick Wilkinson (52) and Connor Franklin (53) as Davies (1-82) and skipper Jake Young (2-80) shared 33 overs.
On a disappointing afternoon, the only positive was the bonus points earned meant Spa moved out of the bottom two.
Ash Fearnall looks destined for a recall to the Firsts after he blazed his second century of the season as the Seconds made good ground on Division Two Second XI league leaders Belbroughton as they dominated this top-of-the-table clash.
The visitors had no answer to Spa’s imposing total of 271-6 and came away with just three points from a losing draw.
Fearnall was in imperious form as he smashed eight sixes in a swashbuckling 117 – taking full advantage of a couple of drops from Belbroughton wicket-keeper Benjamin Spells along the way.
He shared a superb 160-run partnership with Carl Thomson (59) for the second wicket who struck several stunning boundaries down the ground in an equally impressive knock.
In reply, Belbroughton seemed to settle for the draw very quickly once Wrigley was dismissed for 35 and some tight bowling put them well behind the required run rate.
Martin Woodward claimed 5-37 from 17 overs as the visitors crept to 168-7.
Droitwich moved to within five points of Belbroughton having claimed 17 points for the winning draw.
The Thirds could only muster 133-7 against Old Hill in Division Five.
And that target proved to be easy going as the visitors cantered to victory with 20 overs to spare and win by seven wickets.
Meanwhile, in the reverse Division Five Second XI fixture, Tom Goss hit 52 for the Fourths who overcame their Black Country opponents by 82 runs.
This weekend sees the league switch to a straight win/lose format with the Firsts travelling to Burghill & Tillington on Saturday while the Seconds take on the same opposition at St Peter’s Fields.
The Thirds and Fourth face Oldswinford and Stourbridge Social.
