Weston continued their fine form at home, defeating Cheltenham by 118 runs.

WESTON continued their excellent home form with a 118-run victory over Cheltenham.

The visitors elected to bowl first and James King pulled the first ball of the innings for six in a 17-run first over from Terry. The openers put on 37 before Andy Fear was dismissed.

A 48-run partnership between King and Shabel Ahmed saw Weston build a solid foundation. The introduction of spin made things difficult and Ahmed (17) was trapped lbw.

John Davidson and King took the score to 101 before Davidson was dismissed. It took a stubborn period from Chris Davidson and King to prevent a further collapse as the pair milked the ones and twos.

King was able to punish anything short and he went past his half century as Weston got their first batting point. After getting to 150, the pair began to push on and King cleared the ropes twice more.

A huge six took the Aussie into the 80s, but in the same over he pulled a long hop straight to deep midwicket to go for an excellent 86, with the partnership worth a crucial 72 runs.

Davidson was caught for a responsible 26 as Sean Stringer (16 not out) was able to pick up 10 from the final over to see Weston finish on exactly 200.

Charl Willoughby and Stringer set about their usual business and after beating the bat several times, Willoughby eventually picked up two wickets.

Stringer picked up the wicket of dangerman Mike Kelly, as he trapped the opener lbw for 14 and reduce Cheltenham to 25-3 at the 10-over mark.

Willoughby picked up two more, clean bowling Waters and trapping Scholfied in front without scoring. Stringer picked up his second wicket with Howell caught behind and in the 15th over Willoughby snapped up his fifth, having Simmons caught behind to give John Davidson a fourth catch.

With both openers bowling their 10 overs through, there was time for one further wicket as Willoughby bowled Arthur. At 20 overs, Cheltenham had fallen to 57-8, with Willoughby finishing with 10-2-19-6 and Stringer (10-2-29-2).

Fifteen-year-old Tom Chambers replaced Willoughby and bowled well, but without luck as Ash Allen picked up the two remaining wickets as Cheltenham were bowled out for 82.

Forte Financial man of the match was shared between James King and Charl Willoughby.

This was an outstanding performance set up by James King’s 86 and the excellent middle partnership with Chris Davidson, while Willoughby and Stringer bowled with pace, swing and aggression.

Weston picked up 21 points in the process which has secured safety and should see them finish comfortably in mid-table. On Saturday, Weston make the long trip to Lechlade, hoping to complete a double over the Wiltshire side.