Tetbury and Apperley are neck and neck at the top of Division One of the Gloucestershire League as they go into their final games of the season on Saturday.
Both teams won at the weekend, with Apperley easing to an eight-wicket win over Tewkesbury 2nds while Tetbury overcame Thornbury 2nds by 65 runs.
Apperley dismissed Tewkesbury for 195 despite Alex Oliver making 76. Dave Means (3-22), Devin Rogers (3-28) and Marcus Ridal (3-45) did the damage before Josh Brown (78 not out) and Rogers (55 not out) steered them to victory. Jacob Flowers picked up 3-19 as Tetbury bowled out Thornbury for 157 in 36.1 overs, while earlier, Abdul Samad took 3-30 for Thornbury.
Apperley travel to sixth-placed Cirencester on Saturday while Tetbury, who have a better net run rate, are at fourth-placed Rockhampton, who were 10-wicket winners over Cheltenham Civil Service at the weekend after bowling them out for 173.
Dashawn Norville took 4-28, and Peter Smith grabbed 3-42 before Louis Warren (81) and Rowan Cartlidge (72) steered their side to victory. Earlier, skipper Bradley Attwood made 52 for Service.
Aden Vaughan compiled an unbeaten 118 from 124 balls to ease Cirencester to a five-wicket win over Frocester 2nds. Chasing 221-9, they got home with five balls to spare despite Ramearo Samuel taking 3-29. Earlier, Akash Patel had taken 3-29 for Cirencester while Han Walpola claimed 3-30.
It was a very good weekend for Cirencester because 24 hours later they won the County Trophy final, beating Tewkesbury 2nds by 75 runs at Thornbury.
Max Rouvray arrived at the wicket with Dumbleton 2nds 5-2, but then hit 100 from 87 balls to help the Division Two leaders to 272-8 against Quedgeley & Hardwicke, who were dismissed for 108. Rouvray put on 180 with Freddie Sharp (71) for the third wicket before taking 4-25 as Quedgeley & Hardwicke were all out in the 35th over. Luke Mills picked up 3-25.
Dumbleton hold a 16-point advantage over second-placed Gloucester AIW Sports, who were 136-run winners over Woodmancote.
Shaheer Raja made 101 in AIW Sports’ 242 while Ryan Bignall took 3-49 for Woodmancote. Kaihaan Zakhil was the pick of the AIW Sports bowlers with 3-14.
Sam Coote made an unbeaten 100 and shared in an unbroken partnership of 135 with Andre Soma (52) as Hatherley & Reddings 2nds overhauled Ullenwood Bharat’s 199 all out with seven wickets and six overs to spare. Soma had earlier taken 3-35 while Obo Price claimed 3-32.
Number 11 Saurav Kamath hit the only ball he faced over midwicket for six to steer Division Three leaders Charlton Kings 2nds to a thrilling one-wicket win over Chipping Sodbury 2nds.
Chipping Sodbury had been bowled out for 139 with Adam Russell taking 3-27, but Charlton Kings also found runs difficult to come by – Frankie Gooding took 3-22 and Riley Wakefield 3-35 – before getting over the line with 11 balls to spare.
Second-placed Great Rissington closed the gap to six points after racing to an eight-wicket win over Frampton-on-Severn on the back of an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 130 between Kyle Swanepoel (71) and Giles Wellman (50). Joe Rowsell top-scored with 69 for Frampton, who were dismissed for 140, with Tom Webley taking 4-16 and Daniel Parker 3-29.
Ryan Tyson made 50 and then took 3-38 in Shurdington’s 40-run win over Fairford. Shurdington made 233-6 with Henry Collister taking 3-28 for Fairford.
Kings Stanley are champions of Division Four after defeating Corse & Staunton 2nds by 90 runs.
They bowled out Corse & Staunton for 168 to make sure of their fifth successive title and host Kingsholm 2nds on Saturday, hoping to go through the campaign unbeaten.
Opener Ed McDonald made an unbeaten 113 in Sheepscombe’s 304-7, which included 86 extras, which was 88 too many for Frocester 3rds. Iain Collins took 3-34 for Sheepscombe while earlier Sebastien Gruner claimed 3-50 for Frocester.
Bibury took two wickets in two balls to clinch a last-over five-run win over Winchcombe in Division Five. Chasing Bibury’s 269-7, Winchcombe began the final over, bowled by Sachin Bandara, needing six to win with their ninth-wicket pair at the crease, but they were dismissed with three balls remaining.
Earlier, openers Jamie Cowell (64) and James Richardson (54) were Bibury’s main run-getters, while Will Forsyth took 4-44 for Winchcombe. Forsyth also made 51 with the bat, putting on 138 for the sixth wicket with skipper Jack Galpin, who made 95.
Second-placed Hatherley and Reddings 3rds are now 10 points clear of Winchcombe after beating Goodrich by seven wickets. Goodrich were restricted to 191-7 with Tejas Bandal taking 3-25. Bandal then made an unbeaten 68 as Hatherley reached their target in the 28th over, with opener Jake Nickell thumping a quickfire 74. Earlier, James O’Brien made 55 for Goodrich.
Hatherley trail Down Hatherley by 19 points after their nine-wicket win over Langford, who were bowled out for 105. Adam Milsom picked up 4-20 before Shane Trigg (51 not out) led the charge to victory inside 26 overs.
Huntley are champions of Division 6A after overcoming Forest Exiles by 85 runs. Huntley made 312-7 with opener Alastair Bressington, who played a handful of games for Gloucestershire in the early noughties, smashing 151 from 114 balls. Opening partner Wade Ridsdale made a quickfire 55, while Ross Keddle took 4-65 for Forest Exiles. Keddle then made 84, and Ben Howells contributed 63 before Forest Exiles were dismissed in the 37th over with Charlie Gayther taking 4-59.
Tewkesbury 3rds made certain of winning the Division 8A title when they beat Dymock 2nds by seven wickets. Oliver Williams made an unbeaten 63 in Dymock’s 129-7 while Louis Bichard took 4-17 before Ulysses Alonso made an unbeaten 58 for the champions.
Haresfield Gladiators finished one run short of Gloucester AIW Sports 2nds’ all-out 212 in Division 8B with their ninth-wicket pair at the crease. Austin Garlick took 4-37 for Haresfield while Jai Dhiman was AIW Sports’ most successful bowler with 3-36.
Stone won the Division 8D title in style with a 10-wicket win over Oldbury-on-Severn after bowling them out for 46 in 15.5 overs. Pete Lavis took 5-32, and James Taylor 4-13 before their batters reached the target in 7.1 overs.
Division 9B champions Gloucester 3rds enjoyed a 70-run win over Ullenwood Bharat 3rds after making 200. Mohammad Ahmadzai (57) and Muhammad Soban (56) were their main run-getters before Elham Ahmadzai took 4-19. Suresh Dollu top-scored with 51 for Ullenwood, while earlier Dattu Kumar and Ash Ayyalasomayajula had been the pick of their bowlers with 3-19 and 3-28, respectively.
