PRESTON professional Bilal Asad was the scourge of Kendal on Saturday, smashing a top-scoring 90 and taking 5-13 in a 58-run defeat of John Trewenneck's side at Shap Road.

The Kendal skipper asked Preston to bat on a good-looking track and although Stuart Parkin got rid of Munaf Bavla in his first over, the scoreboard showed 105 in the 27th over when the next wicket fell.

Danger-man Asad was the third man down, but not until he had compiled an impressive 90 with three sixes and eight fours.

It featured a prosperous second-wicket stand of 104 with Paul Mann, who finished as Preston's next highest scorer with 30.

The middle-order batsmen chipped in with useful runs, but Chris Miller's off-spin continued to reap its reward for 4-55 off 17 overs as Preston were eventually restricted to 196-8.

Kendal faltered in the run-chase from the outset as they lost the first three batsmen in the order, Ikram Ullah, Kevin Howarth and Terry Hunte, with a mere 12 runs on the board.

New Zealand professional Graham Aldridge tried to pull them round with a knock of 61.

He added 31 with skipper Trewenneck and then shared a match-saving 72 with Paul Dodds, who made 31.

That took Kendal to 115, with 82 required off 10 overs.

It was too a tall order and when Aldridge and Dodds both fell to rather fortunate juggled catches in successive overs, Preston were in the ascendancy, so much so that Kendal surrendered their last four wickets for seven runs.

That man Asad played the key role with the ball as well as the bat, capturing 5-13 to help wrap up victory with eight balls to spare as Kendal were all out for 138.