Helping hand to Lansdown cause
Keynsham victory aids local rivals in promotion chase
Bath ate a hefty chunk into league leaders Clevedon’s advantage as the reigning champions recorded a 65-run win over their title rivals. The Swords opened with the bat, electing to do so, and put in a steady enough display. Ben Wells’ 39 helped keep things steady, but it was the seventh and eighth men that were most important for Bath. Luke Padgett hit 52, while Ben Ackland added 42 more at quicker than a run a ball, the duo at one stage combining for 57 runs in a total of 215. In Clevedon’s chase, Bath snagged wickets in bunches, first reducing the seasiders from 35-0 to 49-3. Clevedon then wobbled further and slipped down to 116-7 as Thomas Hankins (3-15) and Tim Rouse (3-31) sliced through the lower order. And though Will Plummer showed late resistance, Bath skittled their rivals away for just 150, which leaves them 25-points back of Clevedon. ■ PREMIER 2 Bristol & Somerset Division leaders Lansdown pulled 24 points clear at the top with a little help from Keynsham. At Combe Park, Lansdown saw off Shapwick & Polden by five wickets. Other than 47 in the middle order from Fionn Hand, Shapwick were tied down by firm Lansdown bowling. Josh Smith and Reuben Poole both struck three times for the hosts, the latter turning over just six overs. There were two more for Dominic Hooper, who would bowl key man Hand, with one each for Matt Thomas and Ryan Thorpe as Shapwick fell for just 157. Hooper then opened the innings alongside Jordan Smith in a 98-run stand. It was Hooper first to fall six short of his half-century, but Smith continued to bat unabated. In truth Lansdown were always comfortable, reaching 128 before a quickfire three-wicket flurry from Shapwick. The visitors took a fifth wicket with the score on 150, but could not dislodge Smith, who finished unbeaten on 62. Keynsham, meanwhile, downed second-placed Weston-supermare to give Lansdown, who also have a game in hand, a 24-point league lead. Although Lewis Townsend fell to the first ball of the match, Keyn- sham recovered well, Tom Bancroft hitting 38 to get things going. The important runs were provided by Daniel Jarman’s unbeaten 80, and another 51 from Reg Keates, who stood together for a 130-run stand. Keynsham finished up on 229-5. Weston were blown away when they came out to bat, featuring Somerset favourite Peter Trego at the top of the order, who would be dismissed by Sam Wheller (4-27). The batting side subsided to 48-5 and required a 57-run stand between Shabil Ahmed (44) and Davis Trego. Eventually they would be split up, with Paul Robbins (2-29), asissting in taking the final few wickets. Mark Cole also finished with 2-21 as Weston finished well beaten by 72 runs. ■ Corsham held their nerve to beat Lechlade by a mere seven runs in the Gloucestershire & Wiltshire Division. Runs were in short supply for much of the Corsham order, but Tom Abbott held their innings together with a well-timed 75. Sam Collier and Andy Davis, who added 20 each, were the next best batsmen in a total of 207, the innings ended four overs early. It was nip and tuck in reply as numerous Lechlade players made starts, but could not convert into a big score. Five wickets from Tom Smith (5-43) destroyed the middle-order to leave the Gloucestershire outfit on the brink at 155-9. Gamely they battled, 42 not out from Freddie Martin alongside a stoic unbeaten eight from last man Tom Barnes ultimately falling just short. Simon Crampton also took 2-39 for Corsham, while Richard Foley and Jonathan Parker claimed one apiece. ■ WILTSHIRE division James Williams and Lachlan Tyler came to the fore in Marshfield’s victory against Devizes. They were put in to bat on home soil and quickly lost two wickets before Calum Burnstone calmed the situation with 39. Tidy knocks from Patrick Grieshaber and Sam Jukes built on that platform before the stars of the show came in. Williams was bowled seven shy of his century, while Tyler amassed 53. They combined for 112 runs in the final total of 280-8. Tyler then came out and struck twice early with the ball, as did Tom Clist, to leave Devizes in tatters at 16-4. Although they put on a determined middle-order recovery Tim Saye adding 75 - they were already in deep trouble and finished 57 runs behind when Clist (3-37) bowled Harry Easton. Tyler also finished with 3-38, Cameron Walker 2-48, and Jeremy Bond and Sam Jukes took one wicket each. ■ Corsham 2nds stemmed the tide to see off the challenge of Purton. They chose to bat - a decision that looked good when they finished on 284-8. There were contributions from across the board, with each of the top seven reaching double-figures. Mark Hick’s 65 led the way, though Michael Myatt (44) and Jack Humphreys (48) were also impressive. Purton’s innings saw opener Mohamed Cook top score on 84, with nobody coming close to Neil Little and his 74. However, despite their bulky runs from the top, the lower order was unable to get them over the line. The bottom six could only tally 36 runs between them, as Corsham skittled them away with 16 runs to spare. Ned Jones took both the key wickets of Cook and Little among his figures of 3-51, while Jakob Valentine (2-42) and Myatt (2-45) helped in the dismantling of the rest of the Purton order. ■ BRISTOL & NORTH Som Bath 2nd XI finished four runs short in a narrow defeat to Stapleton. The Bristol outfit knocked up 244-9 from their overs, the bulk coming from middler-order men Ghulam Shabbir (52) and Luc Kear (42). Both, however, were sent packing by James Arney (2-22), while Monty Keith and Joe Prescott also took early wickets. They were followed up by Ben Copp, who diced up the lower order to end with figures of 5-58. The run chase could have gone either way, with an unbeaen 83 from Joe Jenkins the crux of the Bath innings. Louis Brown (39) was also solid, although two run outs stymied the Bath progress as the tail failed to wag. Despite Jenkins remaining for the final throes, it was not quite enough as Stapleton held out. ■ TIMSBURY The 1st XI and Pak Bristolians were involved in a thrilling finish in their Bristol & District Senior Division encounter. The home side needed one run off the last ball but a run out scuppered their victory hopes. After being asked to bat first Pak Bristolians put on 50 for the first wicket before Ellis Hancock celebrated his recall to the first team with a devastating burst of four wickets in three overs, which saw the Bristol side decline to 65-4. Qasir Abbas staged a recovery with a knock of 42 before he was LBW to Jon Strand. Neil Hucker then got among the wickets to finish with 3-36 and also ran out Ismail Zia, who batted for over an hour for 13, as Pak Bristolians were all out for 175. Hancock had excellent figures of 4-35 from his nine overs while skipper Steve Clothier bowled his full allotment of overs for just 12 runs. Timsbury reached 56-1 with Graeme Webb, playing his last game before going into hospital for a knee operation, the only casualty for 19. The introduction of Qaisar Shahbaz into the attack turned the game in the Bristol side’s favour and his spell of 4-16 saw Timsbury struggling on 90-5. A responsible stand of 45 between Jack Williams and Jesse Bishop started the recovery and when Williams was bowled for 20, Hucker capped a good day’s work by maintaining the impetus alongside Bishop. Seven was needed off the final over but crucially Bishop (30) was caught behind off the first ball and although Hucker (23no) and Arran Stewart forged six runs together, they just failed to get over the line. ■ For the fourth time this season, Timsbury 2nds achieved a tenwicket win, chasing down a total of 235-6 away to Hambrook 2nds. Andy Carter again showed his class with a superb unbeaten 148 as Sol Thompson lent excellent support with 51. The win came in just over 24 overs with Carter notching up 631 runs for the season. ■ Timsbury 3rds were set a target of 174 at home to Thornbury 4ths but finished 51 runs short. Young Oliver Hulbert took 3-23 in eight good overs, and Matt Ball also finished with 3-23. Another promising youngster, Will Rawlings, starred with the bat for 32 but only he and Lee Hulbert (11) reached double figures and Timsbury were grateful for a generous dose of 57 extras. Next up for Timsbury is a visit to Old Bristolians Westbury, the 2nds host Alveston and the 3rds visit Bitton 3rds.
■ Bear flat A depleted line-up put up a good fight in a defeat to Great Bedwyn. Having lost the toss the Bears were put into bat on a scorched pitch. An experimental opening pair were not rewarded for the gamble with one of the openers being dismissed for zero after four balls. The next wicket stand however was impressive; 122 delivered by skipper Gunning (71) and Wilson (46) calmed nerves and the Bears looked more confident. A third-wicket stand of 86 followed with the batsmen more comfortable as time went by. The skipper went on to score (111), supported by Johnson on (53). The exceedingly dry outfield was an indicator of a high scoring match, and it proved so with the Bears closing on 236-6, a score they hoped would be enough to see them through, given the lack of regular Saturday XI players in the team. Bears had only one of their regular bowling attack on the day, so knew they were in for a challenge. Bedwyn’s opening pair had a firstwicket stand of 106, Nick Davies closing with an impressive 109, with the rest of the line-up comfortably registering double figures each. Among the Bear Flat line-up were the father and son Morris combination; Morris Sr claiming two wickets and his son one, plus a catch from his father’s bowling. George Ellis took the catch of the game, throwing the ball back just before the rope and holding on as he returned to the field. But their lack of resources told and, despite a bowling cameo from keeper Rob Wilson, Bedwyn reached their target with seven overs left to play. ■ hampset In a weekend with five Hampset teams recording victories, from the U19s through all senior teams, it was the 1st XI who provided the most drama with their final-ball victory in the local derby against Lansdown 2nd XI at Bloomfield Rise. The visitors elected to bat first but home skipper Josh Self (2-47) soon had Lansdown reeling at 26-3. Sam Bowery (41) and Sam Avery (62) rebuilt the innings, batting sensibly and punishing some loose Hampset bowling. Young speedster George Earle-brown was the man to remove both, going on to claim four wickets. Lansdown were eventually bowled out for 223, the beneficiaries at times of woeful Hampset fielding, with a host of regulation chances missed. In response, Hampset were up with the run-rate throughout the first half of their innings. However, a particularly tight spell from Louis Mancini put the squeeze on the home team in the middle overs. Combined with several batsmen making starts but losing wickets at inopportune times, the pressure began to build. Dan Williams (74) maintained his composure before being removed by the outstanding Jackson Hamilton with 23 runs required. With three balls remaining, the Scorpions still needed eight for victory with Lansdown now favourites. Hampset hero Jon Dolman stepped up to the plate, launching a six and then a single, before Sam Marquiss scrambled through for the winning run from the last ball to prompt mass celebrations amongst the watching crowd. ■ With the ground at Bitton unavailable due to a football tournament, the 2nd XI made the short journey to Stothert & Pitt. Unsurprisingly Bitton decided to bat first in glorious weather but found it hard going against accurate Hampset opening bowling, Nicos Harabalidis and Dave Marquiss particularly miserly. This trend continued throughout and as Bitton looked to increase the tempo, youngsters Ethan Silcox and James Willson shared five wickets as a total of 156-8 was posted. Hampset began their reply confidently and although they lost Harabalidis caught behind early on, that brought Julian Sadgrove (57no) to the crease to join the in-form Gary Peters (64) and they shared a century partnership as Hampset cruised to a comfortable eightwicket win with nine overs to spare. ■ Hosts Hampset 3rds moved up to third in their division as Bradley Stoke became the latest team beaten in their four-match winning streak. They elected to field and managed to obtain wickets regularly in the early part of the innings. There was a good sixth wicket partnership for Stoke, but once this was broken Hampset were able to bowl them out for 169 in the 34th over. Hampset obtained three run outs, the pick of which was an excellent direct hit from distance by Jacob Marquiss. Jay Curtis (2-9) and Ollie Smith (2-18) topped the bowling figures. Hampset’s run chase was achieved comfortably for the loss of four wickets. Smith (43no) and Marquiss (28 no) shared the match-clinching partnership, and Josh Smith struck the ball well in his earlier 30, ably supported by Tom Shattock. A fourth successive win for the thirds who continue to move up their division and will now be in third place. ■ The Development XI turned the tides to complete a Sunday victory over Leema. The opening bowlers from Hampset started well and made run scoring for Leema difficult. James Wilson built on the earlier work of Steve Aust (0-15) and Olli Smith (3-44). Wilson (4-21) managed to pick up wickets at regular intervals and caused the Leema batsmen plenty of problems with his pace. Fergal Mcdonald also bowled brilliantly in the latter stages of the innings for figures of 1-29 from five overs, as Leema ended their innings on 181 all out. The Hampset chase started slowly, and they quickly found themselves at 77-8. James Wilson (34no) and Nicos Haralabidis (56) then managed to put on a partnership of 102 to completely change the fortunes of the game, as Hampset managed to get over the line with one wicket to spare. ■ Combe down Ramsbury cantered to a 93-run victory over Down. Winning the toss and electing to bat, the hosts compiled a daunting 282-8 in 45 overs, with Dave Smith (88) and Freddie Walker (72) the mainstays of the innings In reply, Combe put on 53 runs for the first wicket, but lost wickets at regular intervals thereafter, Ramkumar Vijayakumar (39) offering the most stubborn resistance Ultimately, the visitors collapsed to 189 all out inside 37 overs with Freddie Walker (4-23) and Rob Minton (3-15) the most successful with the ball. ■ wiltshire Corsham spinner Joe King has been picked in the Wiltshire squad to visit Cornwall in the Unicorns County Championship this weekend. The match runs from Sundaytuesday at St Austell, with play starting at 11am each day.