UNBEATEN Colwall fought back for a nail-biting tie at home to Worcester Nomads in Worcestershire League Division One.

Blue skies and no wind produced perfect conditions and Nomads sent the hosts into bat first after captain Ben Schiffmann won the toss.

The experiment of Wehan Joubert and Nick Panniers (25) opening continued but Colwall started slowly against tight bowling from the Bransford side.

Second-placed Colwall did well not to lose any wickets until they reached 53 when Joubert (24) fell, leading to Colwall collapsing to 80-5.

Bowlers Dom Badger (4-29) and Matt Ormerod put a break on the scoring rate with the former taking four wickets in his 10-over spell.

But Ben Wheeler (51) and Dan McKay (26) looked to build a partnership and the tail contributed crucial runs from Jon Gooch (14 not out) and Damien Berry (10) to take the score to a respectable 198 all out.

The fifth bowler required in the early stages under revised league rules proved to be Nomads’ Achilles heel.

In reply, opening bowlers Jonathan Hunter and Berry claimed two early wickets as both openers departed with just 12 runs on the board.

Nomads’ Paul Pickering played a forceful innings but had an escape on 15 when Colwall’s claims of a catch were turned down.

Joubert broke the stalemate by dismissing Lewis Austin (18) only for the visitors to cruise on to 172-3.

Pickering, with a hard-hit 84 from just 65 balls, and Liam O’Driscoll (47) left Colwall staring at their first defeat of the season with a quick 110-run stand.

However, Joubert (4-40) and Hunter (4-31) bagged two wickets each to leave fifth-placed Nomads on 184-7.

They both claimed another scalp in ending with four wickets apiece.

With the scores level, Coleman forced an Ormerod edge to the slips, which was parried on by Panniers for Berry to claim the catch and secure the tie. The teams bagged 14 points each.

Colwall host mid-table Droitwich on Saturday, while Nomads entertain second-from-bottom Redditch.

Meanwhile, Bromyard lost by two wickets at Droitwich and are still searching for their first win of the season.

The visitors were dismissed for just 112 and return home to host Evesham on Saturday.