Bank House Glos CCL Div One

Cirencester 167-5 Frampton-on-Severn 166 all out

CHAMPIONS Cirencester condemned Frampton-on-Severn to relegation in the last game of the season.

It was a must-win match for the visitors and they could hardly have come any closer, going down by a single run.

Frampton won an important toss and unsurprisingly asked Cirencester to bat first on a damp pitch.

Cirencester adopted a patient approach hoping things would get easier later in the innings.

Following the dismissal of Will Mason, Gareth Williams and Ben Moody started slowly before gaining momentum.

By the time Williams was caught at midwicket for 50 they had added 102 in 29 overs.

With ten overs remaining Moody accelerated the run rate and was ably assisted by Jono Jamieson-Black. Between them they moved the score past 150 before Moody was out for an excellent 82.

Cirencester posted a respectable 167-5 given the conditions.

The Frampton response started at a much higher tempo.

With batting now much easier than it had been earlier in the day they marched along at more than five an over.

The dismissal of Tom Warren for 26, LBW to Billy Breen, helped to stem the flow of runs as did taking the pace off the ball with the introduction of Williams and Andy Cox.

But they remained ahead of the rate and, with wickets in hand, still looked favourites.

A good partnership between Dan Huxstep and Matt Cayless took the score to 136-3 with 13 overs remaining and the game was there for the taking. However, both batsmen were dismissed in quick succession and this coincided with news that results elsewhere had gone Frampton's way meaning a win would keep them up.

This seemed to change the dynamic of the game, as the level of pressure had suddenly ramped up significantly.

Breen and Mason were reintroduced to the attack and wickets started to tumble. A double-wicket maiden in the 39th over from Breen (3-32) reduced the visitors to 160-8. Another from Mason (4-52) in the following over saw the match finely balanced.

With Frampton's final pair needing two to win with two overs remaining, and Cirencester having no regular bowling options left, up stepped Andy Reynolds.

His first ball was pulled to square leg where Gareth Barry dived forward to take a superb low catch. Victory for Cirencester but sadly an agonisingly narrow defeat and relegation for Frampton.

A brilliant game and a fitting way to end a brilliant season for Cirencester who finished unbeaten at home in 2015.