ASTWOOD Bank got back on track in Birmingham League Division Three with a five-wicket victory over Eastnor.

After two defeats in a row to Streetly and Fordhouses, Bank bagged a much-needed 24 points to move back up to third in the table and keep the pressure on the top two.

The away side had won the toss and elected to bat first but they failed to take advantage of a good batting surface as Astwood dismissed them for 215.

Only Aliq Ur Rehman made an impact with a century but the home side's bowlers filled their boots with three wickets each for Thomas Harris (3-43), Michael Desmond (3-30) and Dan Taylor (3-30).

Bank made a stuttering start to their reply and lost Tom Pedley (26) and Alex Robinson (0), but captain Steve Adshead (39) and Tom Underhill (106) got them back on track as they made 216-5 in 43 overs.

The captain saved special praise for Underhill, who became the first Astwood player to score a century, apart from Adshead, since 2013.

He said: "As a team we have been batting very well this season and not relying on myself at all.

"They have really supported each other and Tom's century will only give the rest of the team a big confidence boost.

"He's the first person since Sam Thomas to score a century in three years, apart from myself and I am delighted for him."

He added: "It was good to bounce back after two defeats in a row and if you look at the scorecard it was a comfortable win.

"It was a 275 score sort of wicket but we bowled Eastnor our for 50 runs runs short and then knocked the reply off with 13 overs to spare, which was encouraging."

With nine games of the season left, Astwood are 35 points behind leaders Fordhouses and 12 off second in the table Pershore.

With two promotion places up for grabs, Adshead was feeling hopeful of his team's chances.

He said: "We've lost to Fordhouses twice so we can't do anything to impede them but they still have to play teams which can beat them.

"We've got to play Streetly again and have a good record against Pershore but we've just got to maintain the high standards we've reached and see where it takes us.

"We've got Newport away next on Saturday and they are going to be very tough."