IN ONE of the few matches to see play after tea, Evesham were denied victory after rain had washed out two hours of play earlier in the day.

Saturday's storms left the hosts with little option but to declare their innings on 217-2 after 41 overs, leaving them 39 overs to try and bowl out Moseley Ashfield.

Evesham sought to buy wickets and encourage a run chase, with Neal Radford bowling to an attacking field and Mark Penter giving the ball air.

The visitors chased vigorously but in the end Evesham had to settle for 13 points and a winning draw that lifted them to fourth place in the Birming-ham League Division Three table.

The home side's strong position was set up by the opening pair of left-handers, Mark Penter and Ian Suckling who put the Moseley attack to the sword.

Suckling was eventually out for 75 giving Kinsella the charge, but Western Australian Penter went on to remain unbe-aten on 113 at the declaration.

The top six batsmen in the visiting line-up all reached double figures with Radford the pick of the home attack with a 13-over stint that retu-rned figures of 4-57.

The club's second string suffered the agony of a last ball defeat at Moseley after they too had declared after a long interruption for rain.

Tom Paul top scored with 46 in his side's 163-6 off 39 overs but the home side needed just 19 to register a six-wicket win despite 15-year-old leg-spinner James Anderson taking three wickets, all stumped by Gareth Howman.

Penter was again among the runs on Sunday when he was left on 82 not out at Droitwich when the heavens opened.

The Sunday second string were also disappointed when torrential rain washed out their game with the visitors struggling at 89-7 against Eve-sham's youthful but hugely talented bowling attack.

Evesham v Moseley Ashfield

Evesham

M Penter not out 113

I Suckling st Watts b D Kinsella 75

B Clements c Shears b Sutton 17

N Radford not out 1

Extras 11

Total (for 2 dec) 217

Moseley Ashfield

P Tompkins b Radford 11

C Bow c Clements b Nel 43

L Garghan lbw Nel 41

G Kinsella c & b Radford 35

G Shears b Radford 30

I Carey b Radford 18

M Watts not out 0

D Kinsella not out 0

Extras 9

Total (for 6) 187

Bowling: N Radford 13-1-57-4, D Key 6-1-26-0, M Penter 13-3-55-0, F Nel 70-0-40-2.

Moseley Ashfield II v Evesham II

Evesham II

A Shorey c S Lewis b J Lewis 10

M Knight c Harvey b Khan 25

M Humpstone c S Lewis

b Waheed 11

G Howman lbw S Lewis 0

W Lloyd c & b Rodgers 2

T Paul c Murray b Khan 46

N Rowland not out 1

M Hutton not out 27

Extras 36

Total (for 6 dec) 163

Moseley Ashfield II

Murray st Howman b Anderson 44

Harvey not out 64

Waheed c & b Lloyd 35

Khan st Howman b Anderson 1

J Lewis st Howman b Anderson 0

S Lewis not out 11

Extras 6

Total (for 4) 167

Bowling: T Paul 5-0-18-0, J Cutler 4-0-33-0, M Hutton 2-0-19-0, J And-erson 5-0-51-3, W Lloyd 3-0-33-1.