An OUTSTANDING unbeaten 118 from Lancashire skipper Evelyn Jones steered Whitchurch seconds to victory at north Shropshire rivals Oswestry on Saturday.

Jones, who spent her winter in New Zealand, celebrated her announcement with her first bat of the season ahead of her debut as skipper for Lancashire women in the coming weeks.

Opening the batting, Jones showed her class against a spirited bowling attack, amassing 118 as Whitchurch posted 283-2 from 45 overs after deciding to have a bat first.

Wicketkeeper Connor Tinsley made a solid start but her was caught off Rob Pengelly's bowling for 36, while Matthew Batkin also had eyes on a half-century before he was bowled by Matthew Davies for 26.

That brought John Huskisson to the crease and he posted an excellent 77 not out alongside Jones.

In reply, Oswestry never got going, despite opener Iwan Roberts's 24 before he was caught by Tom Griffin off Jack Batkin, who also removed the rest of the top three.

Oswestry keeper Luke Jones batted brilliantly for 60 but when he was bowled by Megan Jones, the home innings collapsed to 135-8 with Whitchurch taking a 148-run win.

Jack Batkin took 3-28 from six while Matthew Batkin grabbed 2-40 from eight while Jones finished with 3-29 from 6.2 overs.

On Sunday, the 3rd XI fell just short at Bridgniorth's 4ths who, having set a target of 226-6, bowled Whitchurch out for 209. Top-scorer for the hosts was opener Jack Welch who was dismissed by Archie Jones.

In reply, skipper Dave Marvell's efforts batting at number nine fell just short when he ran out of partners and was left stranded on 75 not out. Tom Griffin was next best on 32 as Whitchurch lost by 17 runs.