Dan Lockwood took the last four wickets as Bristol United Banks beat Bradley Stoke & Almondsbury 3rds by two runs in a thriller in the Fifth Division of the Bristol and District League.
Lockwood, the seventh bowler used by skipper Bilal Raja, finished with 4-13 from 3.4 overs as Bradley Stoke & Almondsbury were dismissed for 188 with two balls remaining. New ball bowler Aizaz Khan claimed 3-13 while opening bat Gareth Price top-scored with 69 for Bradley Stoke & Almondsbury, who at one stage had been 156-3 against the leaders. Earlier, Dnyanesh Karmarkar had taken 3-32 for Bradley Stoke & Almondsbury.
That game was one of four close games in the division, with Stoke Bishop beating Pak Bristolians by 10 runs, Hanham overcoming Keynsham by 11 runs, and Bristol Lions seeing off University of Bristol Staff by 13 runs, with Moon Bhatti making an unbeaten 102 for Bristol Lions.
Iran Perera made 56 not out as Bristol Lions made 224-3 with University of Bristol Staff ending their innings with six wickets down.
A fine spell of bowling by Ahmed Tabraiz helped Pak Bristolians to a four-wicket win over Bristol 2nds in the Senior Division. He took 5-16 in nine overs as Bristol, who won the toss, were restricted to 224-7 with Matt Tavare compiling an unbeaten 57 and Sam Brewer making 55. Pak Bristolians knocked off the runs with more than four overs remaining, with Shahzad Ahmad leading the way with an unbeaten 66 while Umair Javed contributed 55.
Opener Nic Tindall made his second successive century, but his 112 was not enough to prevent Stapleton from slipping to an 11-run defeat to Whitchurch, who made 206-6. Tindall, who put on 92 for the first wicket with Alfie Lewis (30), had earlier taken 3-15 in nine overs.
New leaders Golden Hill 2nds were too strong for Portishead, beating them by 59 runs after Ethan Moss had made 93 from 84 balls in their 260 all out.
Winterbourne inflicted a first defeat on previous leaders Coalpit Heath, beating them by 114 runs after they’d made 263-9. Skipper Ben Parker hit 98 at quicker than a run-a-ball, and then George Ford took 5-19 as Coalpit Heath were bundled out in 35.1 overs. Earlier, Oscar Kelly, the seventh of eight bowlers used by Coalpit Heath, had taken 3-37.
Rob Knight claimed 5-19 to help Hanham to a 69-run win over Shirehampton in the First Division. Hanham had made 215-8 with Dan Jackson top-scoring with 68 after they’d lost their first three wickets for 16 runs.
Sohail Ahmad compiled an unbeaten 101 as Pakistani Express eased to back-to-back wins in the Second Division. They chased down Knowle 2nds’ 186-9 with seven wickets and more than eight overs remaining.
Father and son Craig and Jack Woodland shared an unbroken ninth-wicket partnership of 20 to steer Carsons & Mangotsfield 2nds to a two-wicket win over Old Bristolians Westbury in the Third Division.
Dad Craig joined Jack with the score on 122, and it was Jack, who finished on 11, who scored the winning boundary with 11 balls remaining. George Sutton was their top scorer with 44.
Onila Rajapaksha hit 95 from 83 balls, and Lahiru Perera contributed 53 in Bristol Sri Lankans’ 263-8, which was 74 too many for Winterbourne 2nds. Opener Suleman Butt made 87 for Winterbourne while Benura Umanga and Thisun Opatha both returned 3-35 for Bristol Sri Lankans.
Udeepa Munasinghe hit an unbeaten 93 from 76 balls as St Mary Redcliffe eased to a seven-wicket win over Blagdon in the Fourth Division. He put on 145 runs for the third wicket with opener Harry Loud (79) as St Mary overhauled Blagdon’s 215-9 with seven wickets and nearly seven overs to spare.
There were a couple of nail-biters in the Sixth Division, with Bristol New Eleven beating Abbots Leigh by one wicket and Timsbury 2nds overcoming Lodway 2nds by the same margin. Shan Thomas, batting at eight, was the hero for leaders Bristol New Eleven, hitting an unbeaten 45 as his side overhauled Abbots Leigh’s 136 all out. Parth Gobel took 5-41 for Abbots Leigh, while earlier Kapil Sharma claimed 3-23 for Bristol New Eleven.
Timsbury’s win was their first of the campaign and came after they had dismissed Lodway for 125, with Tom Parfitt taking 5-30 and Sam Hoddinott 3-29. Skipper Adam Workman then made an unbeaten 30 to get his side over the line.
Linus Haigh grabbed 5-25 to secure an exciting four-run win for Coalpit Heath 2nds, who had made 175-9, against Hambrook 2nds in Seventh Division North. Haigh took the final wicket with the fourth ball of the last over.
Alveston and Frampton Cotterell were involved in a dramatic tie in the Ninth Division North. Alveston made 214-3 with Anand Nimkar unbeaten on 93 from 56 balls and Andrew Fox undefeated on 52. Frampton Cotterell matched their score for the loss of five wickets with captain Martyn Tozer hitting a quickfire 79 and Kieran Hughes unbeaten on 57.
