Gloucestershire Cricket Board U19 T20 semi-final. Bristol Buccaneers v Thornbury Thunder.

Thunder 138-3 (20 overs) lost to Buccaneers 139-4 (19.2 overs) by six wickets

THORNBURY Thunder battled but lost out in the first Gloucestershire Cricket Board U19 T20 semi-final at the County Ground.

Thunder won the toss and chose to bat in damp conditions.

And they were up against it from the third ball of the match when the dangerous Marc Lezar had his stumps uprooted by a full delivery from Buccaneers’ opening bowler Tommy Probert.

This brought Thunder skipper Danny Slade to the crease and together with Marcus Wormwell the pair set about staging a recovery.

Slade in particular began to give the inning some impetus, smashing three sixes and two fours, punishing anything loose from the Bristol bowlers who were forced to bowl with an increasingly wet ball as the drizzle fell.

A mix-up between Wormwell and Slade saw the former run out for 20 to make it 61-2 in the ninth over – bowler Vier Lakhani with the decisive throw.

Slade followed soon after for 38 (from 35 balls), caught by his opposite number Jack Ellison off the bowling of Rishi Panchal who showed great control during his first three overs.

With the score on 70-3 and nine overs remaining Dan Lezar came in to join Sam Summerfield.

The pair added an unbeaten 68 for the fourth wicket to help their side reach 138-3 at the end of their 20. Summerfield ended on 48* off 36 balls with three fours and three sixes, supported by 24 (off 23 balls) from Dan Lezar.

Tom Probert (1-19 from 4 overs) and Louis Shaw (0-21 from 4 overs) finished as the most economical bowlers in difficult conditions.

After a two hour break for rain, the Buccaneers got off to a solid start through the measured Ellison and more explosive Tom Probert.

The latter made 29 from 24 balls including two towering sixes before miscuing to Ed Webb off the bowling of Summerfield attempting to clear the boundary again to make it 49-1 in the ninth over.

But new man in Fin Trenouth picked up where Probert had left off, scoring quickly from the start.

With Ellison continuing to play the support role the Buccaneers more than doubled their score in the next six overs before he was caught behind off Jack Gillett for 41 – becoming the second highest Glos run scorer in the competition in the process.

With 18 needed from the last three overs and eight wickets left, Bristol looked firm favourites to claim a comfortable victory.

But they suffered a serious wobble in the 18th over, losing Dan Tailor – run out Webb for 1 – and the free-scoring Trenouth – caught and bowled Harry Wormwell for 47 (35 balls, four 4s and two 6s) to leave them on 123-4 with 13 balls left.

However Shaw (4 no) and Charlie Spink (11 no) held their nerve to seal the win with four balls to spare.