Bath closing in on leaders after win
Bath have moved ahead of their local rivals Lansdown into third in the West of England Premier League Premier One Division and closed to within seven points of second and nine of leaders Clevedon.
It was second-placed Potterne that Bath managed to beat on Saturday in fairly convincing fashion by 55-runs. Having been asked to bat, Paul Muchall produced 86 as he and Kyle Hopper (41*) put on 76 for the seventh wicket as Bath posted 217-7 from their 45 overs.
Despite making a fairly decent start, Potterne struggled through the rest of their innings. Bradley Porteous roared back to form with 4-33 alongside Tim Rouse’s 3-30 and Muchall’s 2-17 as Potterne were dismissed for 162 a ball into the 40th over.
Lansdown suffered defeat at new leaders Clevedon as the title race proves to be a really tight one despite Lansdown now being 19 points behind in fourth. Lansdown opted to bat and opened steadily through James Palmer (14), Jordan Smith (20) and Connor Brown (25). Falling to 81-6 though, it was left to Tim Wyatt (31) and wicket-keeper Bradley Allen (31) to put on 57 for the seventh wicket to try and reach a respectable score.
The visitors were bowled out for 153 in the penultimate over and Clevedon needed 41.1 overs to reach the target, but with only two wickets in hand after surviving a mid-order collapse. Ashley Allen and Wyatt both claimed a couple of wickets in vain for Lansdown.
While the first team is climbing, Bath 2nd continued their miserable time with a ten wicket mauling at Midsomer Norton in Prem 2 Bris/som. Having chosen to bat, Bath lost both openers without scoring before Daniel Hope (16) and Harley Sandford (43) tried to rescue the innings.
Another collapse saw Bath desperately on 49-8 before Sandford and Finn Rodgers (22) managed to get them past three figures, 103 all out in 39.1 overs. Norton needed just 8.3 overs to saunter over the line.
Corsham have extended their lead in Prem 2 Glos/wilts after beating Biddestone and seeing Goatacre surprisingly beaten by second bottom Dumbleton. Having been asked to bat, wicketkeeper Charley Reed (30) opened well with number four Luke Curtis (23) after losing two wickets fairly cheaply. The innings completely turned when Mike Reynolds blitzed his way to 126* in 75 balls, striking 13 fours and six sixes as Corsham finished on 236-7.
Always unlikely to match the challenge, Biddestone weren’t too far away on 190 before they were dismissed with just under three overs remaining after a lower-order collapse. Ahmed Jamal took the initiative from Reynolds with 5-24 to help Corsham to a 46-run victory.
Marshfield clung on in a lowscoring game to beat Stroud. Visitors Stroud chose to bat and produced some solid contributions despite only reaching 117 before being dismissed a ball into the 40th over as Hamish Walker, Tom Clist and Alastair Christie all claimed three wickets apiece.
After making a poor start, Williams Pascall (20) and Kadeem Henry (21) set about rescuing the innings for Marshfield. Jack Grant (24) and James Williams (19) added late cameos to help push the hosts over the line in 23.3 overs, with just two wickets in hand.
Keynsham suffered defeat by the same margin at Bristol 2nd in Bristol & North Somerset Division. A stuttering start from Keynsham needed knocks from Ian Fiebelkorn (23), wicket-keeper Scott Tweedie (31) and Martin Millard (34) to post a respectable 162 before being bowled out a ball into the final over. Bristol managed to get over the line with two wickets and more than three overs in hand, despite Sam Lowe claiming 4-38 and Simon Knowles 3-26.
Corsham 2nd produced the second highest score of the Wiltshire Division at the weekend, but that couldn’t prevent them from defeat at home to bottom side Calne. Opting to bat, Josef Breet (28) and Peter Dennett (16) put on an opening stand of 36 before they collapsed to 71-6.
Ben Da Costa was left to revive the innings with his 62 alongside Martin Roberts (22) and Josh Stanley (43) to eventually see Corsham to 223-9. Calne though proved stubborn in reply and managed to ease to the target in 39.1 overs, winning by eight wickets.
■ WILTSHIRE LEAGUE Hinton Charterhouse have moved to the top of Division One, capitalising on Beckington’s defeat with a narrow win at home to Swindon NALGO. Chris Antrobus’ opening 20 was as good as it got for Hinton before they were bowled out and looking in trouble on 132 after 34.2 overs. But the bowlers held their nerve as Michael Abington claimed 4-22 and Henry Cheal 3-10 to dismiss Swindon for 127 and secure victory by five runs.
Bear Flat eased themselves further away from the bottom after beating Marlborough. Nathan Warren’s 6-21 helped dismantle the visitors for 99 in 31.5 overs before Ross Newman’s unbeaten 43 saw Bear home in the 38th over with five wickets in hand.
Box were also guilty of being removed for double figures in Division Two. Jordan Welsby topscored on 21 before they were skittled for 92 in 34.4 overs. Malmesbury needed less than 20 overs to reach the target and had six wickets in hand, despite Welsby claiming 2-31.
Bradford on Avon are looking to cement themselves as best of the rest in third following victory at Nationwide House. Opener Matthew Harrington struck 61 alongside Lewis Green’s 63 as they posted 222-8 of their 45 overs. Nationwide House were seemingly struggling on 181-8 before play was stopped on 37.1 overs, Pete Andrews claiming 3-30.
The Duckworth/lewis method showed that Nationwide needed 198 by that stage, giving Bradford a 16-run win.
There was another low score in Division Three as Combe Down overcame hosts Wroughton. The hosts proved stubborn in their innings, batting through their 45 overs, but somehow only made 88-9 as Peter Lee-wright claimed a magnificent 4-5. James Mitchell’s unbeaten 44 helped Combe over the line in the 19th over with eight wickets in hand.
The derby in Division Four went the way of Marshfield 2nd at Corsham 3rd. Mark Hick (48) and Theo Todhunter (40) added to Callum Sandell’s opening 37 as Corsham finished on 181-8 from their 45 overs. Kevin Hendy (48) produced a great opening stand with Tom Clay (70) before Clay was ably supported by Russell Lodge (44*) to help Marshfield over the line in the 39th over with seven wickets in hand.
Hinton Charterhouse 2nd were set 198-9 at Heytesbury & Sutton Veny. After a poor start, Fin White (24) tried to stabilise the innings before Tom Baker (62) and Ben Hadfield (50*) tried to rescue it, but Charterhouse were bowled out for 186 in the penultimate over to lose by just 12 runs.
Bathford were comfortably beaten by Division Six leaders Christian Malford. Ben Kirbywoollett played an unbeaten 61, ably supported by Adam Brunton (28) and Alex Garrett (34) to see Bathford to 165 before they bowled out with two overs to spare. Malford needed 39 overs to reach the target, with eight wickets in hand.
In Division 7W, Bradford on Avon 2nd ran out winner at home to Trowbridge 3rd. Paul Vooght (63) and Steve Rendell (56*) were helped by 42 generous extras as Bradford posted 217-6. Two wickets apiece for Dylan Shah, Abhinav Chaturvedi and Rendell then helped restrict Trowbridge to 184-8 to secure a 33-run victory.
Marshfield 3rd also enjoyed success at Melksham 2nd. Richard Guy (32) and Oliver Hendy (26) made a decent opening stand before a mid-order collapse was rescued by
Chris Ruddell’s 42 to see Marshfield to 164, bowled out with two balls in hand. Mark Dixon then took 4-18 alongside Graham Tanner’s 3-4 to bowl Melksham out for 124 inside 40 overs to win by 40 runs.
Corsham 4th were victors as well in Division 8W. Gabe Clark’s 3-39 alongside two wickets apiece for Ethan Crayford, Melissa Story and Ted Finn saw Corsham bowl hosts Lacock out for 118 in 36.2 overs. After a poor start, the match was rescued by Will Lister (26) before Ben Draper (39*) and Crayford (25*) completed an unbeaten eighth wicket partnership to get Corsham over the line in the 34th over. Bathford 2nd conceded to Spye Park 2nd.
■ BRISTOL & DISTRICT LEAGUE
In a game full of twists and turns, Keynsham 2nd and Timsbury tied their latest match in the Bristol & District League Senior Division - a game both sides will think they could have won but a tie was probably the right result.
Batting first, Keynsham collapsed to 121-8, but a sensible partnership between former Timsbury player Colin Arblaster and the experienced John Courtenay pushed the score up to a much more respectable 169. For the second week running, Joe Kinnear picked up four wickets alongside an encouraging debut for Oli Hulbert who opened the bowling and took two wickets. Captain Jon Strand also took two wickets as he and Jack Williams held three catches.
Timsbury then also failed with the bat, falling to 84-7 as Keynsham looked set to win. A stand of 77 between Strand and Graeme Webb then looked to have secured the points for Timsbury, only for Webb to be caught on the boundary with eight runs needed, In a thrilling finish, Strand had to call for a runner
after a calf injury as Kinnear was dismissed for three, leaving Strand unbeaten on 40 to level the innings.
Hulbert was bowled though with four ball remaining as Keynsham secured the tie. Matt Trenchard took 4-24 alongside two wickets for Jon Baker and Ben Whittington.
Hampset faced a double header against Bitton. The first team saw Hampset skipper S Marquiss tear through the order with 6-30, leaving Bitton on 58-6. Bitton captain J Wilshere (68), after an early scare, offered the only resistance as they were bowled out for 118 as T Marquiss took 2-20.
Hampset’s reply started slowly and an early wicket brought J Smith (26) to the crease. Having been 18-1 off eight overs, Smith and C Mcdonald (55*) began to score freely until two wickets quickly fell to A Garland (2-54). Hampset, brought home by the Mcdonald brothers, reached the target in the 17th over.
The second sides saw Bitton get off to a fantastic start with the ball with the early wicket of Costello before Hill and Holmes looked to consolidate. The Hampset innings never really threatened, with late hitting from Marquiss and Mcdonald salvaging a mediocre 139-9.
Smith, Dorey and Mcdonald began well with the ball but a mixture of good batting, poor fielding and dubious umpiring enabled Bitton to reach 98 for the fourth wicket. Spin twins Shattock and Bogg provided a glimmer of hope as they took a further three wickets but Bitton reached the total seven wickets down in the 39th over.
A superb undefeated innings of 126 from Dan Hill was the highlight of Timsbury 2nd’s seven wicket win at home to Pucklechurch in a crucial top of the table clash in Division Six. He was well supported by James Rawlings (29*) and Adam Workman (23) as Timsbury reached 217 with more than two overs to spare.
Earlier, Pucklechurch had compiled a challenging 216-4 with Ryan Watts leading the charge before falling two runs short of a welldeserved century. Steve Clothier showed all his experience with a spell of 3-13 from his eight overs.
Timsbury 3rd staged a remarkable recovery at home to Hampset 3rd in Division 14 before ultimately winning by 151 runs. Struggling at 56-5, Timsbury eventually totalled 301-8 thanks in large to a sixth wicket partnership of 148 between Neil Hulford and Ben Smith. Hulford missed a first century for the club by just four runs, while Smith supported him with an excellent 79. Russell King produced a late flurry of 47*.
Frustratingly, Timsbury were unable to bowl Hampset out as they finished on 135-9. Freddie Hiscott (36) was Hampset’s topscorer with Matt Ball taking 3-16 and Liam Hosford 2-19.
■ NORTH SOMERSET LEAGUE After a rain delay, Hampset faced Bristol West Indian Phoenix. Batting first, J Marquiss (30) and Silcox (24) got Hampset off to a good start with some lovely shots. The positive wasn’t built upon though and controlled bowling from Thomas (3-17) and Y Patel (3-24) slowed the run rate. A few late boundaries by Cockburn Marsh (25*) helped Hampset over 100, finishing on 117-8.
Phoenix didn’t hang around in their reply as Y Patel (34) hit a six off the first ball. Hampset struggled to contain the visitors who quickly passed 50. I Bogg and J Boyle fought back in difficult conditions but Phoenix were winners inside 18 overs with just two wickets lost.
■ WILTSHIRE CCC batted first against Oxfordshire in the NCCA Championship but soon fell to 22-4. The first day was curtailed by the weather after 22 overs as Wiltshire limped to 37-4. Wiltshire were dismissed for 97 on day two with only Chris Aubrey (51) making double figures. Gareth Andrews (4-36), Alex Chapman (3-21) and Pravdeep Chahal (3-28) tore through the order.
In a valiant damage limitation bid, Wilts were able to inflict their own misery on Oxfordshire. Matty Burton (5-73), Josh Croom (4-41) and Arthur Godsal (1-21) soon had Oxfordshire back in the changing room with just 204 on the board to lead by 108.
Will Wade and Jake Mynott survived a few testing overs at the end of the day, but Wade was soon trapped lbw in the morning after a splendid 104. Jack Stearman (41) enjoyed a partnership of 122 and saw Wiltshire build a lead as Ed Young (49), Ben Draper (35) and Brad Dawson (56*) saw them declare a 314-6 at tea. Leaving Oxfordshire 208 to chase in 28 overs.
Oxfordshire rose to the challenge with Marcus Campopiano (86) leading the way until his capture by Croom on the boundary off Brad Dawson. Freddie Smith (39) and Tom Cosford (50) lent good support and Oxfordshire needed one run for victory in the final over with Gareth Andrew struck with four balls to space. Wiltshire face Cheshire in their final game on August 15.