Weston were frustrated by the weather as they were in a winnning position at Cheltenham.

WESTON were left frustrated after they travelled to Cheltenham and were victims of the bad weather.

Having won the toss, Cheltenham decided to bat first with rain already in the air. Weston welcomed Somerset paceman Gemaal Hussain for his first game and he had immediate success removing Gloucestershire’s Richard Coughtrie well caught by Edd Brown at point in the first over.

Sean Stringer removed Kelly for nought in the next over, caught down the leg side which prompted a series of maiden overs. As the first bout of rain hit, Cheltenham were 7-2 from eight overs.

After an hours delay, Smith (17) and van Heerden (28) came back out and looked to attack, knowing run rate was now key in a reduced overs game. They reached 54-2 at the 19 over mark before a second rain break saw the game reduced to 29 overs.

Shabil Ahmed (2-22) removed both the batsman either side of a couple of wickets for Trego (2-15). Hussain (2-15) returned to take his second wicket in the 29th over as Cheltenham finished on 87-7.

As the Weston openers walked to the wicket, another downpour resulted in the ground being too wet and the game was unable to carry on. This was a disappointing end for Weston who, from such a strong position, would have been confident chasing the required runs.

This was another strong bowling performance from Weston and despite only taking eight points from the game, will be happy to have continued their fine start to the season and carry some momentum into Saturday’s league meeting with Warminster.

Credit must go to Cheltenham who made every effort to dry the ground and resume play throughout the day despite the conditions putting them at a disadvantage.

CHELTENHAM

R Coughtrie c Brown b Hussain 1

M Kelley c J Davidson b Stringer 0

K Smith b Ahmed 17

J van Heerden c Stringer b Ahmed 28

W Ridsdale c Allen b Trego 1

P Woodland c Blamire b Trego 4

B Gannon c C Davidson b Hussain 5

H Arthur not out 8

W Simmons not out 7

Extras 16

Total (7 wkts) 87

Bowling: G Hussain 6-2-15-2; S Stringer 6-2-11-1; S Trego 6-1-15-2; A Allen 6-0-21-0; S Ahmed 5-0-22-0.

WITH all other games falling victim to weather, the thirds were the only Weston team to complete a game, losing by 30 runs to Staplegrove 2nds at Devonshire Road.

Bowling first, Weston were excellent in the field and restricted their Taunton-based opponents to 162-9 on an excellent East Ground pitch.

Stu Roberts (11-1-42-3), Wilf Huxtable (9-1-33-1), Paul Stringer (12-2-25-3) and Matt Knight (5-1-24-2) picking up wickets, augmented by a fine fielding display.

In reply, Weston got off to a slow start losing Huxtable (5), Harry Wiseman (6) and Andy Logan (4) in quick succession. Middle order hitting from Jon Lawrence, with support from Stringer (10) and Matt Humphrey (13) looked to swing the game in Weston’s favour.

However, once Lawrence (50) and captain Tom Dancey (6) were out, the tail were up against it. Cross’ 4-23 saw an end to the proceedings as Weston were bowled out for 132.

InTouchCRM man of the match was Paul Stringer.

A YOUNG Weston Sunday League XI lost out to Stratton-on-the-Fosse at Devonshire Road.

In a rain-reduced 20 overs per side game, Stratton’s more experienced line-up made light work of the attack in racking up 202-3. Scott Bradley was the pick of the bowlers, picking up 1-8.

In reply, victory always seemed beyond the young side. However, Luke Morgan (51 not out) registered his maiden senior 50. He was well supported by Matt Knight (24) and Charlie Beddington (10) as Weston ended on a commendable 114-5.

InTouch CRM Man of the match went to Luke Morgan.