Gecko CDCA Div Two
Fairford II 155-7
Avening & Cherington 163-6

AVENING & Cherington beat Fairford 2nds by eight runs in a well-contested match in glorious conditions at Fairford's immaculate Park Street ground.

Visiting captain Tom Redpath pleased his team by winning the toss and batting first in the warm sunshine.

However, the home side worked hard to keep things as tight as possible and restricted A&C to 89-5 after 30 overs. Kurt Eyre was as accurate as ever with the ball, conceding only 14 runs from his eight overs.

Will Findlay-Wilson also produced a fine spell of 8-1-25-2 and Freddy Nuttall took another three wickets.

The visitors rallied strongly in their last 10 overs, led by Ben Griffiths, who survived two relatively straightforward chances to top score with a crucial 45* out of a total of 163-6, which included 22 wides, as Fairford's earlier economy turned into uncharacteristic generosity.

The home team's reply started slowly in the face of some fine opening bowling from Redpath (8-3-13-1) and Jay Richings. Early wickets fell regularly to leave Fairford in some difficulty on 41-4 after 17 overs.

A partnership of 62 between Mike Bowman (43) and Simon Embleton-Smith (34) then steadied the ship. However, both players struggled to find the boundary against an increasingly deep-set field and the required run rate increased to the point at which 47 were needed to win from the last six overs.

This proved just beyond Fairford, despite some lusty late blows from Rich Young (20*), as they finished on 155-7.