HOME side Shelton turned up late, and the delayed start probably cost Ludlow an outright win in this Marston's Shropshire Premier League Reserve Division fixture, as rain curtailed play in the evening.

Ludlow lost an early wicket after losing the toss, but Michael Peacock (13) and Alex Robinson (16) supported Tom Smith, who belted 78 runs in 50 balls, to give the innings a solid base. Mark Burgoyne (36), David Proctor (17) and Ben Morgan (10) took the score towards 200 after 39 overs before rain forced an early tea.

On reflection skipper Burgoyne might have declared at this point, but chose to bat out the 45 overs, with Russell Wilcox scoring 19 off 11 balls to take the score on to 221-9.

Zeeshan Ahmad gave Ludlow the perfect start to the Shelton innings. The 15-year-old medium pacer took three wickets without conceding a run. He quickly followed up with a fourth wicket but then had to come off after bowling his stipulated five overs. Tom Hewitt (37) and A Spellman (22) stopped the rot until Michael Peacock (3-20) and the returning Ahmad (5-3) caused another collapse. Unfortunately, the rain returned with 11 overs to go and the game was abandoned.

Ludlow's first team failed to reach halfway in their fixture with Shelton at The Burway before the rain intervened. Ludlow were on 92-4 after 27.2 overs when the weather forced the players from the pitch for the final time.

Ludlow lost both openers during the first nine balls of the innings. For the second week running, Tom Stanley (58) and a watchful Dave Bottoms (13) steadied the ship.