MALVERN travelled to Astwood Bank on Sunday and after captain Andy Croft won the toss he decided to bowl first.

MALVERN CC SUNDAY XI

v ASTWOOD BANK

All the Malvern bowlers bowled a good line and length. S Clarke (65) and B Griffin (27) had an excellent partnership of 100 but Malvern restricted Astwood Bank to 180 all out in the last over of this 40-over match.

R Francis was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4-32 off 7 overs.

Malvern went out to bat in confident mood. But at 44-4 things were not looking so bright.

Francis then came to the wicket and hit the ball to all parts of the ground. He shared a partnership of 78 with C Heritage, although the latter only scored two of those runs himself.

Malvern reached their total with three overs to spare, with Francis 116 not out. It was his first century of the season and a long time coming.

Malvern CC are sponsored by Crusader Sports.