ANOTHER tense finish at Lower Park saw Bewdley and Burghill both finish agonisingly short of victory in this enthralling Worcestershire County League Division Two draw.

Bewdley did well to restrict their high-flying opponents after winning the toss.

James Marsh saw his bowling rewarded with excellent figures of 4-54, and Jack Mills bowled with great control to take 2-56 off his seventeen overs.

Unfortunately, Bewdley's catching was not as reliable as usual and Burghill's total of 210-9 could so easily have been rather smaller. Nevertheless, Bewdley felt confident when embarking on their chase but soon lost Nick Wilkinson and Simon Mauger, both for ducks.

Gareth Lewis played an outstanding innings of 79, and for a while it looked as if he might be able to see Bewdley home.

Andy Platt supported him valiantly after the fall of the eighth wicket, but when Lewis fell after one of his very best innings, Bewdley found themselves 184-9 with five overs to go.

However, Platt (20no) was able to farm the strike effectively, and earn his side another batting point at 200, and Marsh, called upon to bat out the last over, proved equal to the task.

Bewdley remain second in the table and visit in-form Worcester Dominies on Saturday (1pm start).

Meanwhile, the seconds secured a winning draw in a dramatic finish against Belbroughton on Saturday.

Belbroughton won the toss and asked Bewdley to bat first and Rob Drake (103) and Jon Elmer (100) steered them to 284-4.

In reply, Belbroughton made steady progress throughout their innings and Bewdley were thankful when a breakdown in communication between the batsmen allowed Bewdley to run out Pete Margetts who had batted excellently for his 71.

A destructive stand between Robin Hadley (57) and Ben Spells (47) saw some mighty blows and kept Belbroughton within touching distance moving into the final overs.

Tom Woodcock and Tom Weaver both bowled good spells to stem the flow of runs and Belbroughton required 23 runs to win but they held onto secure the lion's share of the points.

Bewdley will hope that they can build on this result next week when they host high flying Worcester Nomads.