Wellington saw their hopes of a Birmingham League division one winning draw over high-flying Bromsgrove agonisingly slip through their grasp in a rain affected match at Orleton Park.

The hosts made a competitive 169-7 in a match reduced to 39 overs, Indian Rajat Bhatia signing off for his three-week international break with a stylish 55, opener Simon Harding making a gritty 27, while Mark Downes (23no) and Adam Byram (22) staged late cameos.

Wellington then appeared in the box seat as they reduced the visitors to 50-3, with young star Alexei Kervezee – a regular in Holland’s World Cup squad – trapped leg before by Mark Downes for 33.

A brief rain break reduced the Bromsgrove innings further to 35 overs but the visitors secured the winning draw when successfully hitting eight off the final over bowled by Bhatia.”It was frustrating not to get the winning draw but we played pretty well,” said spokesman Terry O’Connor.

“If that is the benchmark for performances for the remainder of the season then we won’t have too many problems.”

Shrewsbury’s golden run with the bat continued as they smashed 187-5 off 25 overs as the start of their match with Cannock was delayed until shortly before 5pm.

Australian Reece O’Connell made the chief contribution with 58, but Ed Foster and Jack Shantry chipped in with 37 and 32 respectively.

O’Connell then claimed an early wicket to leave Cannock 31-1 off seven overs before the rain returned to end the game prematurely.

“It was another excellent batting performance and the only frustration was that we couldn’t get 25 overs to bowl at Cannock,” said captain Foster.

“I don’t think there was a chance of them getting the runs so they didn’t have too much to gain from stopping out there – but it was probably the right decision to come off.”