FRENCHAY clinched the Martin Berrill Sports Bristol & District League’s Senior Division title after edging closest rivals Winterbourne by four runs to also earn promotion back to WEPL.
An excellent contest between these neighbouring clubs went down to the wire after Frenchay were restricted to 163, opener Mike Donaldson top scoring on 48 as George Ford bagged 3-37 from nine in a clash moved from The Rec to the adjoining St Michael’s ground.
Winterbourne made a useful start to their reply thanks to opener Nabeel Ahmad’s 59 but 67-1 soon became 118-9, only for the last wicket pair of Mike Green and Ashley Oakes to step up.
The pair had put on 41 and were closing in on a famous win when a mix-up led to Green being run out for 33, leaving Oakes on 14.
Winterbourne, who started the day second, are now fourth on 233 points, trailing Bristol Pakistanis (236) and Pak Bristolians (235) who both won.
Bristol Pakistanis overcame Hanham by 65 runs, Jawad Khan hitting 65 and captain Urfan Malik again leading from the front with 3-20 from nine.
Pak Bristolians chased down a target of 161 to thump Cleeve by nine wickets, Ahmed Tabraiz finishing with 4-31 from nine before Taimour Warraich took charge with the bat, finishing unbeaten on 86.
Golden Hill 2nds, the Division One leaders, were 46-run home winners against their Lansdown counterparts, Razi Ahmed and John Colley both taking three wickets.
In Division Two, Alvin Pollard’s fine spell of 7-31 included hitting the stumps six times for second placed Bristol West Indian Phoenix 2nds in a six wicket win away to Shirehampton.
And in Division Three, Josh Wilshire finished with 7-10 from only 6.5 overs to pave the way for Bitton to cruise past Chew Valley by eight wickets.
Leaders Bristol 3rds ensured they cannot be caught with a 144-run triumph away to closest rivals Frampton Cotterell, Graham Herring hammering 138 from just 83 (18 fours, six sixes).
One of the innings of the day came in Division Eight East where James Cathro crashed an unbeaten 159 for Carsons & Mangotsfield 2nds who overcame Bitton 2nds by 285 runs.
And in Division Seven East, opener Chris Binnie finished unbeaten on 152 (19 fours, seven sixes) for Downend 3rds who enjoyed a 71-run triumph away to their Frenchay counterparts.
Stoke Bishop made it 16 from 16 in Division Seven West to keep alive their hopes of a perfect season, thrashing Long Ashton 2nds by ten wickets, Greg Crichton capturing 4-5 from eight.