CONFUSION reigned in the rain as Droitwich Spa claimed an eight-wicket victory over Belbroughton in Worcestershire County League Division Two.
Belbroughton had initially been declared the winners before the calculations were reassessed, handing Spa the 20 points.
Chasing 231, Spa appeared to be in the box seat at 115-2 in the 24th over when heavy, persistent rain ended proceedings.
Following all of the mathematics, the Droitwich target of 111 had just been achieved.
Huge credit in the circumstances went to an enterprising 83-run second wicket partnership between Max Young (52) and Stuart Bryan (40 not out), who both played a string of quality shots to put their side firmly on top.
Earlier, Matt Gurr grabbed an early wicket for Spa at the start of the Belbroughton innings before Tom Oliver and Steve Thomas dug in to add 52 for the second wicket.
Whilst wickets proved hard to come by on a slow surface, first change pair Dave Stephens and Adam Keen bowled with admirable control to keep their side on top.
Slow left armer Stephens produced his best bowling performance of the season to claim 2-34 and Keen followed up his impressive debut last week as he conceded just 21 runs from his eight overs.
Captain Jon Hawk struck a rapid 50 as Spa’s earlier excellent fielding started to deteriorate, dominating a partnership of 62 for the sixth wicket with Thomas, who grafted his way to a patient 74 not out, but their efforts were eventually all in vain.
James King dominated in the drizzle with 66 not out as the Seconds raced to their target of 150 inside 24 overs to beat Pedmore by eight wickets in Division One Second XI.
Visiting captain Jon Smith held his side’s innings together with 72 as Ajay Kumar picked up another three wickets.
An impressive display of hitting by Jonny Keen saw the Thirds pick up a decent winning draw at Harborne to maintain fourth place in Division Five.
Keen stroked 14 fours and one six in an unbeaten 66 to give his side the advantage before the weather brought an early conclusion to the clash.
Pursuing Harborne’s total of 228, Keen combined with Simon Holliday (25no) to swing the game in Spa’s favour after they lost four early wickets before closing on 136-4 from 25 overs.
Under-14 player Danny Mazgajczyk had earlier bowled with great maturity to claim 3-24 from 9.4 overs.
At 66-7 in pursuit of 327, the Fourths staved off defeat against Harborne but will need to get the better of Worcester in their final Division Seven fixture on Saturday to decide which of the two sides finishes in the bottom two.
Also on Saturday, the Firsts will look to close the gap on Bromyard, who they sit 27 points behind in Division Two, when the Herefordshire side visit St Peter’s Fields.
The Seconds and Thirds play two sides chasing promotion from their respective divisions when they take on free-scoring Stourport and table-topping Highley.
