THE Hereford Academy Xl went down by 41 runs to a strong Worcestershire Academy side in a 50-over friendly at Eastnor last Sunday.

Chasing a victory target of 187, they were lifted by a 47-run last- wicket stand between Ollie Powell and James Morris before being bowled out for 145 in the 48th over.

Worcestershire batted first and were indebted to a second wicket partnership of 74 between the young Dutch player Alexei Kervezee and Omar Ali (35) after Tim Boulter had taken the first wicket at 16.

The Herefordshire spinners then made life difficult for Worcestershire in the second half of their innings.

The Colwall pairing of Mike King and Charlie Griffiths took a wicket apiece and went for under three an over during their 10-over stints, and Ollie Powell was the pick of them with 3-36 off his nine overs, including the scalp of Kervezee (62), stumped by Steve Caple.

S O'Neil (43 no) added impetus in the closing overs to lift the final score to 186-6.

On a rain-affected pitch, the Herefordshire batsmen were going to need to show a lot of patience.

Openers Ben Stebbings and Caple (11) were well caught when they played expansive shots against the opening quick bowlers.

And life became even more difficult when the Worcestershire spinners took over, and the score slipped to 56-5 with the ball turning sharply.

Tom Austwick (43) batted well after surviving one chance and, with Josh Emery offering stout resistance, a fightback looked possible.

But at 91 Emery became the first of three victims for Brett D'Oliveira, and suddenly the score was 98-9.

Powell (30 not out) and, especially, Morris (18) produced some lusty blows to take the score on to 145 before the returning quicks saw Morris pull the ball high into the dark sky, to be caught.