DAN Sproul continued his fine start to the season with a career-best 165 for Rushwick.

The 20-year-old opener bludgeoned 25 fours and six sixes en route to a winning draw against Harborne thirds in Worcestershire League Division Three.

His second century of the campaign —he made 112 against Himbleton last month — took his total for the season to 468 runs in seven matches, making him the leading scorer across all divisions.

Sproul’s efforts, which formed a 247 first-wicket stand with Chris Pearman (108), also earned him a £30 Fearnley Factory Shop voucher for being our latest player-of-the-week.

The Cardiff University student, in his first season with Rushwick after leaving Birmingham League side Evesham, said: “It’s my second century of the season and it’s the highest of my career.

“It was a fairly good batting wicket and the outfield was pretty fast so it was quite easy-going.

“I brought up my 50 in the first eight overs and felt comfortable all the way through.

“There were still about 14 or 15 overs left when I was out and I thought I could have got a lot more.”

Having posted 356-5 in 50 overs, table-toppers Rushwick were unable to finish their opponents off and had to settle for a 17-point winning draw as Harborne closed on 256-8.

Former Worcestershire junior Sproul also took a spectacular one-handed diving catch to dismiss top-scorer Baldev Raj for 89 off Pearman (3-11) in the reply as well as bowling four overs himself.

But he added: “The pitch was dead and didn’t offer much for the bowlers. We thought it would get worse but it actually got better when they were batting.”

Mark Groves’ side lost the toss and were asked to bat with Sproul demonstrating a repertoire of leg-side clips, hooks, pulls and drives as he racked up his impressive total before being bowled by Michael Keogh.

Pearman, who also shared a 60-run partnership with Tom Bryant (48 not out), struck 15 fours in his own century as Rushwick worked their way into a commanding position.

Groves, however, decided against declaring in favour of putting faith in his bowlers to secure victory.

However, the track did not misbehave as expected and openers Adam Seymour and Iqbal Kasana put on 100 runs in 22 overs.

Following the departure of Steve Benson for five, Raj and Tim Clay added 136 runs for the fourth wicket before the former fell to Sproul’s acrobatics at mid-off.

Harborne lost late wickets but held out to 256-8, although Rushwick remain unbeaten at the top of the table.