Dumbleton are up and running in Premier One of the West of England Premier League. After three near-misses, the newly-promoted club won their first top-tier game at the sixth attempt, beating Bedminster by six wickets in a rain-affected game.
Set 161 to win in 20 overs after Bedminster had posted 272-8 in their 50 overs – Jack Henderson (86) and Ollie Meadows (69) were Bedminster’s leading run-getters – they got home with 14 balls to spare. Gloucestershire batter Tommy Boorman smashed 73 from 36 balls, hitting nine fours and four sixes and sharing in a partnership of 99 in 7.2 overs with Tom Kelly. Kelly, who made 140 the previous week against Midsomer Norton, finished unbeaten on 59 from 41 balls.
Thornbury slipped to their first defeat of the campaign, going down by six wickets to Bridgwater, who were set a revised target of 222 in 39 overs after Thornbury had been dismissed for 219.
Rain played havoc with much of the fixture list, although there were three results in Premier 2 Glos/Wilts. Leaders Hatherley and Reddings got home by four runs against Marshfield, who lost five wickets chasing a revised target of 198 from 38 overs.
Marshfield skipper Jeremy Bond, who made 61 from 50 balls, was bowled from the final ball of the game by his opposite number, Tom Hage, while Adeesha Hewage was unbeaten on 51. The pair put on 103 for the fifth wicket while Harry Bloomfield took 3-33 for Hatherley. Earlier, the in-form Vihanga Kottawasinhage made 51 from 39 balls in Hatherley’s 190-7 from 38 overs.
Second-placed Cheltenham romped to an eight-wicket win over Purton after bowling them out for 86. Skipper James Boyle (3-11) and Stanley Brown (3-28) were the most successful of the bowlers before the batters took over, reaching their revised target of 82 from 42 overs with more than 27 overs to spare. Gloucestershire all-rounder Graeme van Buuren, who had earlier taken 2-30, was unbeaten on 25 while Boyle was undefeated on 40.
Tewkesbury also enjoyed an eight-wicket win, with the victory over Painswick lifting them into the top three. Painswick made 198-7 in 28 overs with Matthew Conolly hitting 79 from 53 balls, but that wasn’t quite enough as Tewkesbury chased down their revised target of 184 from 28 overs with nine balls to spare. James Whitmore smashed a quickfire 60 from 38 balls while fellow opener Josh Richards finished unbeaten on 67.
Unbeaten Bourton Vale stretched their lead to 22 points at the top of the Gloucestershire Division after inflicting a first defeat on their nearest challengers Corse & Staunton. Dylan Driscoll thumped 110 from 76 balls – nine fours and six sixes – while opener Ollie Whiteley made 63 in Bourton’s 268-6 from 36 overs.
Corse & Staunton, chasing a revised target of 233 in 29 overs, fell 59 runs short with their last wicket pair at the crease, thanks in large part to left-arm spinner Max Shepherd, who claimed 4-9 in five overs.
Gloucester claimed their first win of the campaign, beating Hawkesbury by 131 runs after making 219-3 in 40 overs. Sachin Yadav, with a run-a-ball 83, led the way, and there were also important contributions from Luke Carr (56 not out) and Dan Brabham (50). Hawkesbury were given a revised target of 241 in 40 overs but were dismissed with 15 balls remaining.
Harry Stevens made 82 in Langford’s 162-8 in 31 overs before Charlton Kings fell 42 runs short of their revised target of 203 from 31 overs, ending with nine wickets down as Ian Firth picked up 3-37.
