A POOR batting display condemned Droitwich Spa to a second successive defeat in the Worcestershire County League Division One as they went down by four wickets to local rivals Worcester, on a beautiful spring day at St Peters Fields.

Having been put into bat, the hosts started brightly through skipper Martyn Davies and Alex Kolb, but with their dismissals, coupled with that of debutant Connor Grant, Spa faced a re-building job.

Paul Bryan and Rhys John began to dig Droitwich out of a hole but could not break free from some accurate Worcester bowling.

Australian Kris Corbett injected some impetus, but a limp end to the innings saw Spa bowled out for a disappointing 103 in the 43rd over, with only Rhys John registering over 20 runs on a track that offered assistance to the bowlers but no demons.

In reply, Worcester started confidently through Nick Brown, but a couple of early wickets gave Spa hope. This seemed to be dashed by the aggressive Dan Keyte (41) but four wickets in the space of 10 minutes gave Droitwich an outside chance, including a three wicket maiden from seamer Jack Sealey.

However, Droitwich old boy Ian Cottrill guided Worcester home in the 24th over of their innings.

They go to Temple Grafton in the league on Saturday (1pm start).

Meanwhile, Davies saw Droitwich to victory in a close finish at Temple Grafton on Sunday, where Spa chased down 161 with just two wickets to spare.

Davies and Matt Williams contained the hosts on a slow wicket, before the former guided them home.