Bank House Glos CCL Div Three

Fairford 275-5; Sheepscombe 273-6

SHEEPSCOMBE'S Iain Collins was unfortunate to end up on the losing side after scoring 123 of his side's 273-6 on a glorious day for cricket at Fairford's Park Street ground.

On winning the toss, away skipper Stuart Davenport had little hesitation in batting on what proved to be a batsman-friendly track. Openers Collins and Sam Horder made steady progress against some disciplined bowling from Sam Young, Will Bowers and Adrian Newport, with the batsmen making their 50s off consecutive balls.

Horder fell soon after for 51 but with wickets in hand and a good start to build on, Harley Grellier (35) joined Collins and the pair began to increase the run-rate as Fairford's bowlers lost their early control.

A couple of dropped catches and a few errors in the field did not help the home side's cause as the pressure and runs mounted, but once Collins had departed some optimistic running allowed Fairford three run-outs with the final total of 273 being par for the conditions.

Chairman Guy Bailey picked up the wickets of Collins, Horder and Jesse Carrington.

Chris Clayton (61) and Lee Clark (40) set the scene for the Fairford reply, punishing some wayward bowling to take the score to 85 from only 13 overs before Clark was surprised by one that nipped back from Horder.

The home side were always ahead of the run rate with Young (36) and Newport (18) keeping the momentum going before Derek Townsend (61*) and skipper Kevin Smart (24*) saw Fairford home with ten balls and five wickets to spare.