But they made the worst possible start, losing opener Toby Farnsworth without scoring after skipper Ed Kemp had won the toss and elected to bat.

At the other end, Tenbury’s Tom Gloster was having no such problem with the wicket, batting his way to his first century since 2021 before finally being caught on 122.

During his innings, he shared two crucial partnerships. The first was with youngster Jacob Phillips, who batted brilliantly for 37, and then with skipper Kemp, who made 42 as the pair increased the scoring rate.

Their opponents picked up a few wickets in the final five overs as Tenbury looked to accelerate, but some valuable late runs from Kieran Hall, who finished on 32, helped lift the total to 288, their highest of the season.

It was a struggle for Tenbury’s bowlers early on as West Malvern batted superbly, with just one wicket falling in the first 20 overs as the hosts cruised to 125/1.

The turning point came when the ball was handed to Cohen Reynolds who promptly removed the danger man Will Lloyd after he had amassed 85 runs. Not long after, Gloster took a great catch off his own bowling to have the hosts at 151/3.

Although the game was turning, West Malvern’s Mark Mucke remained solid on his way to 69 as he guided his side to within 35 runs of the target. He was finally caught by Harrison Davies off the bowling of Kieran Hall who finished with 4-57 from his nine overs.

Two huge sixes came off the penultimate over to hand a lifeline to the home side only for Hall to bowl a brilliant final over. His first five balls included two wickets and two leg byes and another fine delivery for his final ball meant Tenbury could celebrate a thrilling one run win.

This weekend sees high-flying Pershore 3rds make the trip to Penlu.