Sides on fringes of Premier title race
Both Lansdown and Bath remain on the outer fringes of the West of England Premier League Premier One title race following wins on Saturday.
Lansdown travelled to previous third-placed side Bridgwater and chose to bat. George Scott (23) and James Palmer (34) made a decent 49-run opening partnership before Connor Brown largely steered the innings, batting through the remainder of Lansdown’s 42.4 overs to finish unbeaten on 69. Ashley Allen also added a crucial 23 from number ten as the visitors finished on 178.
Much like Lansdown’s innings, Bridgwater started solidly enough but this time there were no late cameos as the hosts fell from 63-2 to 145 all out in the penultimate over to see Lansdown home by 33 runs to take third in the table and sit 18 points off leaders Potterne. Josh Smith (4-44) and Brad Evans (3-35) had done the most damage with the ball.
Bath are only a further two points off Lansdown in fourth following their six wicket victory over bottom side Taunton Deane. Having opted to bat, Taunton made good contributions throughout the order before setting 224-9 at the end of their allotted 45 overs. Paul Muchall and Harry Hankins had taken a couple of wickets each.
George Hankins (42) and Tim Rouse (65) got the reply off to a perfect start as they made 92 for the first wicket. Wicket-keeper Ben Wells (43) and captain Sam Mount (38*) then combined well to see Bath over the line within 40 overs.
The contrasting season for the Second Side shows no sign of abating as they were well beaten at Bishopston in Division Prem 2 Bristol/som. William Arney bowled really well for Bath as he took 5-56 to help reduce Bishopston to 228 all out with the final ball of the innings.
The batsmen though really struggled with only captain Kester Moseley surpassing 20 with his patient 44 from 77 balls and Bath were dismissed for a Nelson 111 in 37.5 overs, 117-runs short.
Corsham remain second in Prem 2 Glos/wilts but are now level on points with third-placed Thornbury despite reaching a mammoth 324 against Hatherley & Reddings. Opting to bat, wicket-keeper Charley Reed opened with 60 but was finding support in short demand before departing at 97-4.
Mike Reynolds added 49 before Jack Humphreys (69) and Ahmed Jamal (74) put on 87 for the seventh wicket, with Corsham finally all out with the last ball of the innings. The high-scoring contest continued for Hatherley & Reddings but the regular loss of wickets saw them fall behind the run rate before being bowled out for 257 in 41 overs. Jamal added 4-45 to his earlier batting contribution.
Corsham are now just 11 points behind leaders Goatacre after they were narrowly beaten at Marshfield who moved themselves further away from danger. Batting first, captain Hugh Jackson produced a fantastic 106 which included 14 fours, ably supported by William Pascal (33) and Kadeem Henry (39*) as Marshfield reached 213-3.
Goatacre remained on track throughout their innings but again were losing wickets regularly and ultimately just six runs short with two balls remaining on 207. Jeremy Bond claimed 4-60 with Robert Joseph 3-41.
Keynsham were heavily beaten in Bristol & North Somerset Division at second-placed Twyford House. The hosts opted to bat and posted a commanding 334-6 as Ben Clarke and Jack Stiff each claimed a couple of wickets. Antony Cains (46) offered the most resistance in reply as captain Tom Bancroft (26) hit the only other score past 20 and Keynsham were bowled out for 149 inside 29 overs to lose by 185 runs.
Corsham 2nd remain on the outskirts of trouble in Wiltshire Division, 20 points ahead of the bottom two. They travelled to Royal Wootton Bassett and faced chasing down 202-8 after Stuart Warner, Ben Oakley and Ned Jones each took a couple of wickets.
Openers Tom Abbott (20) and Peter Dennett (32) offered 48 for the first wicket before Jakob Valentine added 43. There also knocks of 21 from Ben Oakley and 26 from Martin Roberts but Corsham lost wickets far too regularly and eventually finished just 16 runs shy on 186 inside the penultimate over.
■ SOMERSET LEAGUE Harptree Villages lost by five wickets in a well contested match at Peasedown St John in Division Seven Blue. On a good track, Harptree were probably 30 plus runs light with their 169-9 against an accurate Peasedown attack that saw George Wilcox claimed 1-15. After a solid opening stand of 48 between Matt Cole (26) and Andy Arrowsmith (19), a mini collapse ensued as Harptree fell to 61-4 as Leigh Criddle took 3-35.
Tom Houlton (22) and Tom Arrowsmith (26) put together an effective stand of 48 before both fell in quick succession, leaving Phil Hogarth (31) to marshal the tail through the innings.
In reply, Cole and Josh Mills kept Peasedown quiet, with 39 coming off the first ten overs, before Hogarth bowled opener Wright on 58. At 69-3, Harptree looked in good stead through Hogarth (2-25) and Tom Arrowsmith (1-35), but a match winning innings from Tom Naylor (80*) saw Peasedown home with a couple of overs remaining despite another couple of wickets falling.
■ WILTSHIRE LEAGUE Hinton Charterhouse kept in touch with Division One leaders Beckington with a 50-run win at Swindon 2nd. Henry Cheal (69) and Andrew Boyce (66) added to the good work of openers Simon Cane-hardy (34) and Scott Woolley (33) as they posted 257-6. James Jacob then claimed 3-33 alongside two wickets apiece for Sam Knott and Michael Abington as Swindon could only make it to 207-7.
Bear Flat claimed just a second win of the campaign in their basement battle against Burbage & Easton Royal 2nd. Mark Gunning’s 97 helped put on a good second wicket stand with Joe de Souza (61) before Rory Cadbury added 37 to see Bear to 235-5. Chris Bence helped tear through the tail with 4-55 alongside Jay Morris’ 3-22 as Burbage were dismissed for 195 in 41 overs.
Box were five wicket winners at Nationwide House in Division Two. Nationwide House could only reach 150-7 as Johnny Pegler (2-14), Andy Hamilton (2-25) and Matt Ryalls (2-24) bowled tightly for Box. Much like the bowlers, all the batters contributed for the visitors to see Box over the line in the 37th over. Scores came from Gerald Hayward (21), K Evans (21), Ryalls (29), D Burke (31) and Jordan Welsby (21).
Bradford on Avon suffered defeat at second placed Goatacre 2nd. The hosts put on 260-9 despite Pete Andrews’ 4-40 and Paul Vooght’s 3-46. Bradford fought back valiantly through Tony Burrows (61), James Edwards (37) and Will Johnson (36) but the visitors were losing wickets too regularly and eventually fell on 216 in the penultimate over, 44 runs short.
Combe Down edged out hosts Chippenham 3rd by a wicket in Division Three. Santosh Nair, Simon Elliman and Matt Howes each claimed two victims as Chippenham finished on 188-8. James Mitchell then bowled through the Combe innings for an unbeaten 98 to virtually drag his side through in the 42nd over.
Marshfield 2nd lost ground in the Division Four title race after losing to rivals Hinton Charterhouse 2nd. Cameron Walker’s 56 was the highlight in Marshfield’s 173 as Gary Archer’s 3-34 helped bowl out the visitors in the penultimate over. Ben Hadfield’s 55 put Hinton in a good position before Chris Davis unbeaten 34 saw the hosts over the line with just a ball to spare and three wickets in hand. Callum Duckett had taken 3-14 for Marshfield.
Alfie Johnson was run out one shy of his half-century as Corsham 3rd posted 213-7 at home to Melksham, Corey Burgess and Craig Chaplin added 32 and 36 respectively as the middle order played its part. Melksham needed 42.3 overs to reach the target with six wickets in hand.
Bathford played out a rare tie at bottom side Burbage & Easton Royal 3rd. Opener Nick Marshall’s 64 was as good as things really got for Bathford before they bowled out for 161 in the penultimate over. Martin Gurney’s 3-41 and Matthew Hunt’s 2-34 helped restrict Burbage as they also finished on 161 but with eight wickets at the end of their innings.
Marshfield 3rd were five run winners at Warminster 3rd in Division 7W. Oliver Hendy managed 59 as Marshfield posted 160 before being bowled out in 38 overs. The bowlers held their nerve though as Mark Dixon cleared the tail with his 4-26, alongside two wickets for Andy Elliott, to see Warminster out for 155.
The derby in Division 8W saw Corsham 4th run out six wicket winners at Bathford 2nd. Opener Darren Sutton top-scored with 39 before Bathford were dismissed for 137 as Melissa Story claimed 3-33. Thomas Hyde then hit an unbeaten 53 alongside 40 for Will Lister as Corsham needed just 25 overs to seal the victory.
■ BRISTOL & DISTRICT LEAGUE
For the second time this season, Timsbury came up well short against Bradley Stoke in the Senior Division of the Bristol & District Cricket League, losing by 109 runs as the hosts made 276-8 before Timsbury reached 66-0 until they lost six wickets for just 18 runs with six batsmen failing to score.
After opting to bat, Stoke lost influential Tom Laver early one to Kev Sibley but, despite economical bowling from Sibley and Sam Hoddinott, the hosts made steady progress and knocks of 72 from Owen Onslow, 52 from Ash Baber and 42 from Anthony Beaven put them in a strong position. There were three wickets each for Greg Passingham and Graeme Webb.
New opening partners Sibley (22) and Passingham (37) gave Timsbury the perfect base to challenge from, but after they departed in quick succession the innings fell apart as they fell to 84-6. A typically breezy 34 from Paul Cracknell on seasonal debut for the first team brought some joy to the innings and wicket-keeper Adam Brinkworth was able to reach his top score of the campaign.
After Timsbury sunk to 121-9, Brinkworth added 46 for the last wickets with Hoddinott (17*) before he was dismissed for 34. Daniel Qureshi did most of the damage with 5-40.
Second Division leaders Hampset hosted Midsomer Norton 2nd and first captain Jordan Price was asked to field by their visitors. Keeping their discipline for the most part, Hampset made scoring difficult before the introduction of Dan Roberts (2-16) really put the pressure on as Norton fell to 104-5.
Spin twins Tom Marquiss and Josh Tregaskes continued the accurate, controlled bowling and the pace of Price kept Norton on their toes. The middle order partnership between Hampshire and Turner saw the visitors fight back as Hampset missed several critical opportunities in the field and Norton finished on 206-6.
The reply wasn’t plain sailing and Hampset were reduced to 32-3 in quick succession. The middle order all reached double figures before Price (30), Self (34) and debutant O Smith (23) built up the innings. But regular dismissals haunted the home side as they sat on 186-9.
However, in came Dan Roberts at ten and dealt a devastating blow to bring the scores level with a ball left to play. A scampered bye saw Hampset home by the finest of margins as Roberts made 34 from just 17 balls. Hampset next travel to Bohemians.
Hampset 2nd travelled to Bishop Sutton in Division Eight and a strong opening partnership from F Mcdonald and J Marquiss saw the hosts lose two early wickets to be restricted to under 30 runs in ten overs. Tight spells from both J Dorey and F Richards went unrewarded before I Bogg got the breakthrough to see wickets begin to fall regularly.
S Costello offered some control, bowling in good areas for his 3-36 and Sutton were bowled out for 191 following a run out in the penultimate over.
Similar to the home innings, Hampset lost two early wickets to go 4-2 before an impressive rebuild from S Costello and J Sadgrove helped the visitors back into the game. R Holmes (51) and J Sadgrove (36) built a 68-run partnership, but three wickets fell in the space of a few overs to leave Hampset requiring 42 with four wickets remaining.
A steady partnership from F Mcdonald and J Marquiss saw Hampset over the line though with four overs to spare to move to second in the table. They host Hambrook on Saturday.
Timsbury 2nd’s Division Six promotion quest took a blow when their game against Almondsbury had to be cancelled, but the Third Team kept up the pressure in Division 14 with a clinical ten wicket win at Frenchay 4th. Ellie Donaldson held the home innings together with a well-constructed 40, but a fine spell of 5-13 in seven overs from Neil Hulford saw Frenchay dismissed for 131. There was also a couple of wickets for Matt Ball.
Will Rawlings (65*) and captain Laurie Jones (53*) then made light work of the chase, knocking off the runs in just over 17 overs.