Gloucestershire County League Division One
Oldlands 108 ao lost to Corse and Staunton 305 ao by 197 runs
OLDLANDS troubles at the bottom of the Gloucestershire County League Division One table increased on Saturday as they went down to a tenth defeat of the season and left themselves now 34 points off safety from the drop.
But their defeat to Corse and Staunton, who are currently in fourth position in the league, was as comprehensive as it could be.
Yet, in fairness, Oldlands managed to get the game on despite the pouring rain that prevented other matches from taking place around the region.
And Oldlands captain Steve Pennington was probably hoping that the damp conditions would produce some swing and spin for his bowlers as he won the toss and decided to field.
However, Corse and Staunton had other ideas and lapped up the chance to bat first with relish.
It did not, though, start well for the North Gloucestershire outfit as Pennington’s decision looked to pay off at the beginning.
Opener Paul Tyrer was caught by Stuart Reeves off the bowling of Pete Waite for a duck and he was soon followed by Ian Robson, who was another victim of Waite, this time caught by Jack Evans, for nine and Corse and Staunton were finding the match tough.
But 26 from Corse opener Edward Goolden steadied the visitors and, when he was out, number four Tim Dannatt and number five Matthew Cox went about forming the partnership which left Oldlands floundering.
Dannatt had Oldlands’ bowlers looking on in aghast as he slammed five sixes and ten boundaries in a big innings of 118 before Pennington knocked out his stumps.
Cox was in equally good batting form as he smashed ten boundaries and put one ball over the ropes for six in his knock of 89 before he was caught off the bowling of Waite.
Tom Garner (19) and Austin Garlick (23) added more misery to Oldlands, with both wickets going to the bowling of Pennington.
And, with the damage done, it did not matter that the tail end of the Corse innings withered away for only the addition of three runs to leave the visitors on a thumping 305 all out in 44.2 overs.
Although Pennington took five wickets, his bowling turned out to be expensive as he conceded 71 runs in his 6.2 overs.
Waite, meanwhile, took four wickets from his nine overs for 35 runs, with Dave Brookes getting the other wicket for 40 runs from his nine overs.
It was a big asking rate of 6.8 runs per over for Oldlands to grab victory, but almost from the start of their reply, the chances of getting to 306 looked very thin.
Opener Steve Heaven went when he was caught by Garlick off Mike Gittings for a duck and that was also the fate that befell number three Bobby Woolams and number four Dave Brookes as they were both clean bowled by Corse marksman Dan Organ.
Opener Nick Grove dug in for 20, which included four boundaries, before he was bowled by Goolden.
And Goolden and Organ combined to unseat Waite from the crease for 12 as Oldlands’ innings began to sink.
Jim Wright was the best batsman for the home side as he smashed a six and five boundaries in his 35 before Goolden bowled him.
And, from there, the tail wagged slightly as Jack Evans (16) and Pennington (12) tried to stay at the crease but it was a vain fight as the pair were dismissed  and, when Matthew Cox caught Stuart Reeves off the bowling of Alex Morgan for a duck, Oldlands were defeated by 197 runs as they finished on a dismal 108 all out in 30.3 overs.