Cricket: Debutant Davis holds his nerve in derby (From Gazette Series)

Bristol & North Somerset 1st XI: Chipping Sodbury (183) beat Winterbourne (179) by four runs

4:50pm Wednesday 5th May 2010 in Sport

Chipping Sodbury got the new season off to a fine start with a tense victory over local rivals Winterbourne.

Sodbury were asked to bat first on a damp track but were given a solid start by James Hicks and Nick Wake. Wake was first to go for 18 and new batsmen, Jerry Swatton, soon followed without scoring.

When Hicks was caught for a well made 32 and the returning Daniel Clark was bowled without troubling the scorers, Sodbury were in trouble.

Debutant Kris Davis and Webb steadied the ship before the latter was trapped lbw for 17.

The Rendell brothers - Jamie and John - both departed cheaply for three but the youthful Davis showed plenty of promise with a run-a-ball 37.

Jamie Wakefield (13) and some big hitting by Jon Toghill (26) gave the Sodbury innings some late impetus and with the aid of 32 extras they reached a respectable 183 before being bowled out in the final over. Winterbourne were given a steady start by Sodbury old boy Paul Tovey, who anchored the hosts’ innings with 35.

Despite several batsmen making starts, Sodbury picked up regular wickets with all the bowlers contributing.

After Tovey was dismissed, Phil Purnell took the attack to Sodbury with a quick-fire 43, but when he became Daniel Clark’s third victim, the game was finely balanced.

The introduction of Jon Toghill (2-9) swung the game back into Sodbury’s favour as he picked up two quick wickets.

It was left to Davis to round off a memorable debut as he held his nerve with some fine death bowling and picked up the last Winterbourne wicket in the final over.