DROITWICH lived to fight another day after defying early relegation with an emphatic nine-wicket win over fellow strugglers Eastnor.

It was the third Worcestershire Cricket League Division One victory in four games for new captain Ian Cottrill. 

It took Spa only 22 overs to chase down their victory target of 177 as Ash Fearnall laid siege to the bowling with an array of power hitting.

He looked set for a deserved third century of the season before cruelly being dismissed just one run short of three figures.

But opening partner Martyn Davies guided his side to victory with an unbeaten 62.

Spa did well to restrict Eastnor to a below-par score.

Max Young grabbed a hat-trick on his way to a five-for while Phil Thomas collected 3-44.

Debutant Matt Gurr claimed his maiden wicket at first-team level in a five-over spell of 1-24.

With two games to go Spa closed the gap on Eastnor to 29 points but remain 41 shy of third-bottom Pedmore so still require two big wins and other results to go their way to avoid the drop. 

The seconds edged closer to promotion and the Division Two title after a stylish unbeaten century from Paul Bryan guided them to a vital five-wicket win over rivals Chaddesley Corbett.

Spa need just 10 more points from their final two games to make sure of going up after Bryan hit 11 fours in a sublime 113 not out.

The veteran left-hander shared important partnerships with James King (27), Martin Keen (28) and 15-year-old Adam Keen, who batted with great maturity in making 22 as Droitwich overhauled Chaddesley’s 241-6 in the 47th over.