The top four all won in the Senior Division of the Bristol and District League, and with two games to go, just 12 points separate leaders Stapleton from fourth-placed Golden Hill 2nds.
Stapleton hold a three-point advantage over second-placed Winterbourne after beating Bristol 2nds by 137 runs. Skipper Alfie Lewis made 121 and opening partner Nic Tindall 71 in Stapleton’s 310-6 before Bristol were bundled out in 24.5 overs, with George McEndoo taking 5-49 and Tindall picking up 3-40.
Winterbourne, who host Golden Hill on Saturday before travelling to Stapleton seven days later, overcame Midsomer Norton by six wickets. Skipper Ben Parker made an unbeaten 105 as Winterbourne went past Midsomer Norton’s 186 in 35.1 overs. Earlier, C Kislingbury had taken 4-34 for Winterbourne.
Third-placed Pak Bristolians are six points behind the leaders after defeating Coalpit Heath by 21 runs. Pak Bristolians made 234-5 with Umair Javed (86 not out), Subhan Razaq (52) and Israfiel Farooq (51) making the bulk of their runs. Opener Mike Perham made a run-a-ball 126 for Coalpit Heath in reply, while Touseef Ahmad picked up 3-17.
Golden Hill bowled out Whitchurch for 155 with Jack Spicer taking 4-22 and Ash Bonynge-Pearce picking up 3-41. They knocked off the runs in 37.5 overs.
Dan Laver took 5-28 in Bradley Stoke & Almondsbury’s 84-run win over Portishead, who were dismissed for 179. Earlier, Nikash Choughule had top-scored with 61 for Bradley Stoke & Almondsbury.
Hanham enjoyed a 20-run win over Bath 3rds in the First Division after making 213-9. Dan Jackson was their top scorer with 61 before teammate George Stone took 4-39.
Timsbury made it four wins on the bounce when they overcame Shirehampton by 50 runs. Shirehampton were restricted to 154-8 despite Richard Woods making 57.
Gagandeep Singh made 109 for Hambrook, but he still finished on the losing side against Old Down in the Second Division. Old Down overhauled their 217 with seven wickets and two overs remaining, with Duncan Boffin (77) and George Williams (63) leading the run charge. Earlier, George Rowen took 3-44 for Old Down.
Leaders Pakistani Express eased to a nine-wicket win over Clevedon after restricting them to 220-7. Syed Shah was unbeaten on 76 from 46 balls while Sohail Ahmad made an undefeated 59 and Sayab Zulfiqar 57.
Centuries by Balaji Srinivas (117) and Sam Hunter (107 not out) helped Bradley Stoke & Almondsbury 2nds to 380-5 and a 300-run win over Old Bristolians Westbury 2nds in the Third Division. Srinath Gandhi bowled just the one over and returned figures of 3-0 as Old Bristolians were dismissed in 26.3 overs.
An unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 128 between Sam Marquiss (82) and Adam Hodgson (50) steered Hampset to victory over Carsons & Mangotsfield with nine balls remaining. Carsons & Mangotsfield had made 200-8 with George Sutton making 74 and Kieran Gallagher 67 while Ethan Silcox took 3-28.
Matthew Waters took 5-22 for Winterbourne 2nds in their 134-run win over Failand & Portbury, who were bowled out for 132. Earlier, Arjun Chib had top-scored for Winterbourne with 52.
Golden Hill 3rds are the Fourth Division champions after their nine-wicket win over Bitton. Bitton were bowled out for 198 with Sheraz Muhammad making 93, while Andrew Hyde took 4-44 and Matt Belbin 3-38. Zac Patterson then plundered an unbeaten 96 in 78 balls as Golden Hill rushed to victory in 28.4 overs.
Bristol Aces are in second spot after an eight-wicket win over Blagdon, who they restricted to 159-9. Prasok Ramachandran took 4-25, and Muhammad Saim claimed 3-16, with the latter then making an unbeaten 75 as Bristol Aces got home in 31.4 overs.
Unbeaten Bristol United Banks clinched the Fifth Division title after beating Keynsham 3rds by 49 runs. Farman Ahmed made a 37-ball 54 in Bristol United Banks’ 240-9 before Dharmendra Singh took 4-22 as Keynsham were dismissed in the 39th over.
Bristol Pakistanis 2nds overcame Hanham 2nds by 40 runs after making 220, of which Jawad Khan made 102. He was one of five batters who fell to Ethan Brown, whose wickets came at a cost of 43. Waqas Ahmad then took 3-19 as Hanham closed their innings with seven wickets down.
Skipper George Lewis made 101, and Martin Millard contributed 65 in Dyrham & Hinton’s 281-5, which was 29 runs too many for Bath 4ths in the Sixth Division. Andrew Lewis then took 4-38 as Bath were dismissed in the 39th over.
Third-placed Golden Hill 4ths remain very much in the promotion picture after their four-wicket win over Bristol Eagles, who have dropped to fourth. Champ Kadaba (81) made more than half of Bristol Eagles’ 156, a total Golden Hill went past with just three balls remaining. Opener Romesh Tenuwera was unbeaten on 72, while earlier Kate Duffield took 3-31 for Golden Hill.
Bristol Mavericks clinched the Seventh Division East title with a 147-run win over Taverners. Mavericks made 319-6 after Koushik Puliyamgote (128) and Vinay Kumar (97) put on 235 for the first wicket. George Amos made 70 for Taverners while Noyal Jobe (3-18) and Ijlal Husain (3-30) were the pick of Mavericks’ bowlers.
Frenchay 3rds squeezed home by two wickets with one ball remaining against Coalpit Heath 2nds in Seventh Division North. Aaron Cole took 5-38 in Coalpit Heath’s 206-8 before Charlie Simes made an unbeaten 57 from 48 balls. Linus Haigh took 3-38 for Coalpit Heath.
Frys defeated Eighth Division East leaders Bristol New Eleven 2nds by one run after making 223-9. Lee Bruton (66) and Stuart Nethercott (51) were Frys’ main run-getters while Lishoy Xavier and Ritto Paul took 3-25 and 3-38 respectively for Bristol New Eleven. Robin Varghese made 79 for Bristol New Eleven, but Nethercote (2-22) took two wickets in the final over to clinch a dramatic win.
There were two close games in Ninth Division North with Charlton Super Kings beating Bradley Stoke & Almondsbury 5ths by one wicket and Downend 4ths overcoming Frampton Cotterell 3rds by three runs.
Bradley Stoke & Almondsbury made 174-6 thanks in large part to an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 102 between Anvit Chandra (61) and Zeeshan Ejaz (57). Kanav Vig then took 3-26 but couldn’t prevent Charlton Super Kings from getting home with 10 balls to spare.
Downend were dismissed for 168 with Jeremy French taking 3-25 for Frampton Cotterell, who then came unstuck against Monesh Mohan (4-36) and Jasper Dyer (3-32).
Number 11 Simon Page took six runs from a thrilling final over and number nine Sarthak Gulati hit a further three – two of them from the last ball – as Bradley Stoke & Almondsbury 6ths closed on 192-9 in reply to Bedminster 6ths 192-8 in Ninth Division West.
Rhys Godfrey made 87 for Bedminster while Ephraim Morrell (4-36) and Sam Beeston (3-16) were the pick of their bowlers.
