BEWDLEY seconds have won the Second XI Knockout Cup for the third consecutive season.

They beat Himley in the final on Monday to retain their title.

After losing the toss and being put into bat, Bewdley blasted out of the traps thanks to a swashbuckling 40 off just 19 balls for Adam Groves.

Himley struggled to contain the Bewdley batsmen on a flat track with small boundaries and lightning fast outfield.

Further excellent contributions from Matt Cowdery (45 off 28), Rawlings (41 off 29) and Spencer (26 off 19) followed by a late Grant Morris flourish, saw Bewdley post a formidable 218 off the permitted 15 overs.

Himley needed to get off to a flier if they were to chase down the challenging total set. Unfortunately for them, the Bewdley fielding and bowling matched their efforts with the bat.

First Joe Smith removed the opener Michael Hopson in just the second over thanks to a fine catch from Louis Spencer at mid on.

Next, some brilliant boundary fielding from James Rawlings followed by a direct hit from Chris Darby saw Dan Holmes run out and the Himley reply struggling at 28 for 2.

However, an excellent knock from Stephen Jones (65 from 46) and a dogged 27 from Jim Ross saw them finish on 139, but still 80 runs shy of the target set.

Grant Morris finished with excellent figures of 2-23 off his four overs and was the pick of the Bewdley bowlers.