Poor batting costs Shipston-on-Stour in seven-wicket home defeat against Exhall and Wixford

It was Shipston’s second league defeat and they have dropped to fourth in the table.

Having won the toss and elected to bat first at London Road, Shipston skipper Tom Cox wanted a decent start against a strong Exhall side.

But Shipston lost wickets at regular intervals and could muster only 147 from 44 overs.

Jack Murphy was the pick of the Shipston batsmen with 65.

Matt Corby (30) and captain Cox (12) were the only other home players to get into double figures as Shipston struggled to put together meaningful partnerships.

Perry and Weston both picked up three wickets, while Richardson (2), Burgess and Balasubramanian each claimed important scalps.

Shipston knew they needed to start well with the ball to exert some pressure and the opening pair of Dave Pyne and Corby bowled decent spells.

The duo kept down the run-rate and made scoring difficult but were not able to make any inroads into Exhall’s batting line-up.

The visitors advanced to 75 before the opening wicket well.

Luke Canning replaced Pyne from the Barcheston End and clean-bowled Smith for a well compiled 38.

Canning struck immediately, removing Balasubramanian with the next ball, caught at second slip, and Shipston had renewed hope.

However, the celebrations were short lived.

Mullet joined ex-Shipston player Morris at the crease and the pair edged Exhall to the brink of victory.

Morris was eventually caught in the deep by skipper Cox off the bowling of his brother Ben in the dying stages.

Exhall captain Kerby survived an lbw appeal before hitting consecutive boundaries to secure a comfortable victory for the away side.

Canning (2-18), Ben Cox (1-36), Matt Corby (0-19), Pyne (0-30), Jack Murphy (0-22) and Nick Hibberd (0-23) were all used by Cox.

But it was a disappointing afternoon for Shipston.

Shipston will look to bounce back when they entertain Catherine de Barnes at London Road on Saturday.