Dumbleton are the new leaders in Premier One of the West of England Premier League after a dramatic day that saw four of the top five in the division lose.
Last season’s Premier 2 Glos/Wilts champions began the day in third place, but they have opened up a 10-point gap at the top with five games to play after beating fifth-placed Frocester by four wickets. Frocester were dismissed for 295 from the final ball of the innings, with skipper Will Naish their leading run-scorer with 67. Naish put on 120 for the opening wicket with Max Dunne (51), but they lost wickets pretty regularly after that, with Angus Catto picking up 4-40.
Opener Lewis Rollinson (76) and Gloucestershire batsman Tom Boorman (53) then set up Dumbleton’s run charge with a second-wicket partnership of 106 before Tom Kelly (73 not out from 55 balls) and Arthur Hanson (62 from 48 balls) masterminded the victory push with a fourth-wicket partnership of 126 as they got home with seven balls to spare.
It was their sixth win in a row – they host fourth-placed Midsomer Norton on Saturday – and they jumped to the top after Burbage & Easton Royal and Bridgwater, who started the day in the top two, lost to Potterne and Bristol respectively.
Bristol’s six-wicket success against the champions was their second win in a row and lifted them off the bottom of the table. Opener Nic Halstead Cleak made 107 and Matt Tavare 59 – they added 145 for the third wicket – as Bristol chased down Bridgwater’s all-out 239 with more than six overs to spare. Earlier, Louie Shaw picked up 4-41 while Jacob Emler collected 3-46 for Bristol.
It was a tale of two captains as Downend beat Twyford House by four wickets in Premier 2 Bristol/Somerset. Parikshith Shetty won the toss and then smashed 150 from 117 balls – 17 fours and six sixes – in Twyford House’s 289-9. He put on 125 with Curtis Blakemore (56) before being fourth out with the score on 232 at the start of the 42nd over, one of three wickets for Abdul Sami, who finished with 3-64.
Masoor Khan took 3-43, and Ross Robbins 3-44 before Downend skipper Jordan Garrett took charge of their run chase with 116 from 105 balls. Callum Loud also hit a quickfire 60 at the top of the order as Downend got home with just under five overs to spare.
Old Bristolians Westbury raced to a seven-wicket win over Taunton St Andrews with more than 20 overs remaining after bowling them out for 162, with George Harris (4-30) and Tom Barrington (3-21) doing much of the damage. Reece Malone was unbeaten with a rapid 50 as Old Bristolians Westbury eased to victory.
Jiwanjot Singh (88) and Rohan Wijeratne (73) were key batters for Chipping Sodbury as they overhauled Hatherley and Reddings’ 296 all out in a game that went down to the penultimate ball in Premier 2 Glos/Wilts. They got home by three wickets despite losing two wickets in the final over that was bowled by Vihanga Kottawasinhage, who finished with 3-48. Earlier, George Driver-Dickerson, batting at eight, made 85 from 69 balls for Hatherley before falling to Eddie Holden, who picked up 6-47, while Aranyadev Jhala hit 81 from 75 balls.
Opener Reece Morris hit 13 fours and four sixes in his 137-ball 114 as Painswick made 256-8 against Marshfield. Jonathan Conolly then took 4-29 as Marshfield were dismissed for 221 inside 45 overs.
Mohit Kale made 90 and then picked up 2-24 in his 10 overs as Cheltenham defeated Tewkesbury by 31 runs. Kale added 108 for the fifth wicket with Stan Brown (55), while Tom Stevens took 3-46 for Tewkesbury. Josh Richards made 74 in an opening stand of 103 with Henry Snow (30) in reply, but then Tewkesbury lost wickets at regular intervals with James Boyle taking 4-45 and Nirvaan Jain 3-40.
Neiland Cadogan arrived at the wicket with Bristol West Indian Phoenix 132-5 after winning the toss against Bath 2s in Bristol & North Somerset but then blasted an unbeaten 123 from 70 balls – seven fours and 10 sixes – to help his side reach 336-6. That was 120 too many for Bath as Cadogan, who took the new ball, enjoyed a fine all-round match by taking 4-35.
Skipper David O’Brien made 126 and Saurabh Rawat 116 in leaders Brislington’s 117-run win over Bedminster. They shared a third-wicket partnership of 188 to help their side to 364-4 while opener Arnold Otwani contributed 68. Bedminster were dismissed in the 42nd over with Rawat taking 3-51 and William Thirkell picking up 3-57. Earlier, Harry Drissell claimed 3-66 for Brislington.
Steffan Davies top-scored with 97 in Frenchay’s 306-8, in which Akshat Krishna made 76, before Downend 2nds were bowled out for 186. Blake Sculthorpe, who had earlier taken 3-65, made a run-a-ball 92 for Downend 2nds before falling to Madushan Ravichandrakumar, who finished with 5-31.
Ghulam Shabbir took 5-10, and Soban Irfan grabbed 3-22 as Bristol Pakistanis bundled out Knowle for 77, a total they went past in the 13th over for the loss of five wickets.
Number 11 Andrew Bower hit two fours and a six from just four balls as Charlton Kings claimed a dramatic one-wicket win over Stroud in the Gloucestershire Division. He arrived at the crease with his side 259-9 chasing Stroud’s 270-9 but saw his side over the line with 14 balls to spare. Opener Tom Collinson blasted 84 from 52 balls for Charlton Kings – 10 fours and five sixes – while Innes Pierce was the pick of the Stroud bowlers with 4-35. Earlier, Dan Lambert had made 85 and Nimesh Ilukwatte 50 for Stroud, who were beaten by one run by Hawkesbury the previous week. Craig Collinson was the most successful of the Charlton Kings bowlers with 3-27.
Leaders Bourton Vale remain unbeaten after thumping Aston Ingham by 207 runs after making 295-5. Dylan Driscoll smashed 112 from 76 balls – 12 fours and five sixes – while Musa Twala and Mark Whitney contributed 62 and 53 respectively. New-ball bowler William Faulkner then took 4-28 as Aston Ingham were bowled out at the end of the 26th over.
Cheltenham 2nds claimed their second win of the campaign when they defeated Corse & Staunton by six wickets. Corse & Staunton were restricted to 252-8 despite Harrison Tegg’s 63, with Pasca Mutekwa taking 3-57. Nick Evans then made 112, Noah Cooper Llanes 53 and Dexter Purser an unbeaten 52 as Cheltenham eased to victory with 3.4 overs remaining.
Hawkesbury scored 10 runs from the final five balls to earn a two-wicket win over Chipping Campden with just one ball remaining. Kudzai Maunze was their top scorer with 50, but it was number 10 Luke Messer who hit the winning boundary from just the second ball he faced. Defeat was tough on Chipping Campden skipper Matt Andrews, who made an unbeaten 135 in his side’s 233-9.
Lafras van Vuuren made 92 and took 3-17 in 10 overs but couldn’t prevent Gloucester from slipping to a three-wicket defeat to Langford. Gloucester were bowled out for 211 with Tom Stevens (3-31) and Matt Bicker (3-42) leading the way for Langford. Opener Aaron Court was then Langford’s leading run-getter with 57 as they clinched victory in the 43rd over.
