Bristol & District League Fourth Division

Almondsbury 2nds (197-8) beat Bristol Civil Service (164) by 33 runs

SECOND from bottom Almondsbury took on joint top Bristol Civil Service on Saturday and turned the form book upside down.

Batting first, Almondsbury collapsed to 89-5 after the resourceful Gary Goodwin ran himself out for a solid 38, but Kyle Hartigan found a willing partner in Garth Jackson as the pair went on the attack and flayed the Civil Service bowling to all parts of the boundary.

Jackson eventually fell lbw for 35.

Hartigan, however, continued to strive back into form and finished unbeaten on 73 as the Almondsbury innings closed on 197-8.

Wayne Grunshaw (2-34) and Ankit Sharma (2-40) were the pick of the visiting bowlers.

Kavi Perrera and Jackson put a stranglehold on the Civil Service batsmen, conceding 20 runs between them off the first 11 overs.

This allowed skipper Tom Burgess to tactically ring the changes as Fraser Pepall, once again returning from retirement, claimed the wicket of Grunshaw, well caught by Andy Taylor at mid-on in his first over.

Taylor himself then entered the affray and, although not bowling at his best ,claimed a couple of wickets to keep the pressure on.

Burgess changed the bowling once more and immediately achieved results as Matt Smith removed the dangerous Lewis Nixon for 47.

The spin twins of Pepall and Smith, aided by some fine catches, took control of proceedings, dismissing the visitors for 164.

Kavi (9-0-18-0), Jackson (10-3-27-0), Taylor (4-0-28-2), Pepall (10-0-52-4) and Smith (7-1-28-3) all played their part in a good all-round team performance.

Senior Division

Bristol Asians (91) lost to Almondsbury (94-8) by two wickets

ALMONDSBURY travelled to Lees Hill on Saturday and came away victors against Bristol Asians in a tightly fought contest.

Batting first, the Asians collapsed to 91 all out with Geoff Halstead (10-3-24-3), Steve Braund (10.2-2-34-4) and Josh Slade (5-2-12-3) doing the damage.

Almondsbury reached 40-1 with Andrew Parkinson scoring 22 and Greg Stephens 21.

However, the traditional Almondsbury wobble took place as wickets fell at regular intervals but the tail held firm, leaving Parkinson's side winners by two wickets and still firmly perched at the top of the table.