BROMSGROVE earned the lion’s share of the points but were denied an outright victory in the Birmingham League Division One by Sutton Coldfield on Saturday.

The Boars returned to the traditional 55-over format and produced a much-improved display but could not record a second win of the season.

Skipper Mark Evenson won the toss and opted to bat first.

But they had to recover from a slow start when Ashley Newfield was bowled for a duck by Steve Howard.

Bromsgrove were also reduced to 2-2 when Lewis Cordes was dismissed by Luke Jones.

However, Yogesh Malhotra (63) and the in-form Alexei Kervezee, who smashed 118 runs off 108 balls, put together a 192-run third wicket partnership.

Graeme Whiles (18no) and Evenson (20) added late runs but the Boars were dismissed for 267.

Despite losing Lewis Harrison for a duck when he was caught and bowled by Alex Wilkinson, Aaron Thomason (82) and James Hunt (34) got among the runs for Sutton Coldfield.

Despite the best efforts of Wilkinson (2-25), Evenson (3-56) and Kervezee (2-15) it was not quick enough as Sutton reached 176-8.

Even though they were denied victory, Evenson was pleased with the 17 points the Boars picked up.

After six games, Bromsgrove are eighth in the table with just one win.

However, the captain wants to build on Saturday’s encouraging display.

He said: “The last two games we have played quite well but we haven’t finished teams off.

“Against Dorridge last week we were in a good position but one of their tailenders got runs late on.

“This week we took wickets but not quite quick enough but at least we took 17 points which is not far off a win.

“It’s important we build on these displays and start getting results.”