BROMSGROVE earned a winning draw when they were denied outright victory in Birmingham League Division One by Old Hill on Saturday.

For the second week in a row, the Boars were the better team while their opponents were happy to avoid being bowled out.

The 15 point haul means Bromsgrove are still in the running for the top spot but have slipped to third.

Captain Mark Evenson won the toss and decided for the away side to bat first.

They suffered an immediate setback when the inform Jayden Levitt was dismissed for one run when he was bowled by Toby Lester.

But Ashley Newfield (61) and Alexei Kervezee (30) guided Bromsgrove from 4-1 to 58-2, when the latter was dismissed by Nigel Davenport.

Tom Hill (22) and Evenson (38) also added runs late on as the away side made 21-4-9 in the 55th over.

The home made 167-6 in reply but at slow run rate, which slowed when they decided a losing draw was palatable.

Kervezee, free from Worcestershire duty, took 3-31, while William Tuffin (1-23) and Newfield (1-42) also chipped in.

Evenson said: "It was a strange game, we through 214 runs was 20 or 30 short but Old Hill's captain thought it was a very good score.

"Old Hill were going very well but they seemed happy to pick up the batting points and not win the game.

"It was frustrating not to win but if we keep picking up winning draws and make sure we are near the top, then we've got a chance when the format changes to win or lose, which were are normally very good at."

Bromsgrove take on Leamington away on Saturday (noon start), with James Ganderton available again.