Uphill Castle Under-13s reached the final of the North Somerset Youth Cricket League Ken Barrington Cup.

UPHILL Castle Under-13s progressed to the final of the North Somerset Youth Cricket League Ken Barrington Cup after comfortably beating Nailsea and Congresbury in the quarter and semi-finals respectively.

Against Nailsea, Uphill bowled tightly to restrict them to 68-4, with wickets falling to Bradley Patch (4-0-21-1), Tom Biggs (2-0-12-1), Kruz Belcher (4-0-18-1) and Tommy Llewellyn (1-1-0-1).

Nailsea’s bowling attack also proved difficult to get away and two early wickets left Uphill on 16-2 from five overs. Belcher and Llewellyn, started to dominate until a mix-up saw Llewellyn (18) run out with the score on 48 from nine overs.

Belcher (38 not out) and Sonny Carr (1 not out) saw Uphill to 71-4 and victory, guaranteeing them a semi-final place in the 13th over.

Uphill travelled to Congresbury for the semi-final in a match reduced to 18 overs per side.

Having won the toss, Congresbury inserted Uphill and opener Belcher continued his rich vein of form scoring 23 with the score on 40 from 6.5 overs. Matthew Ogborne (3) and Tommy Llewellyn (19) added 35 to see Uphill to 76-2 from 15 overs. Bradley Patch and Ahmed Malik batted sensibly and saw their side to a respectable 89-4.

Uphill got off to a fine start, reducing Congresbury to 15-5 after just four overs, with two wickets for Ogbourne and two for Llewellyn.

A change in bowling to Tom Biggs and Bradley Patch produced a further four wickets in as many overs. Belcher took the last wicket to bring the innings to a rapid conclusion, as Congresbury slumped to 31 all out.

Uphill will need to be at their best when they face current cup holders Bristol, who will be looking forward to a sixth consecutive cup win in as many years, on home turf, when the final takes place at Bristol on June 12.