West of England Premier League Prem 2 Glos/Wilts

Thornbury 241 all out lost to Cheltenham 244-7 by three wickets

THORNBURY went down to a heartbreaking defeat at home to Cheltenham on Saturday as the visitors won with the last ball of a nerve-tingling finale.

Thornbury could have gone above rivals Rockhampton in the table and seized fourth place if they had won the match.

But, despite Cheltenham being docked a point for a slow over rate, they just held on to claim the honours at the Ship Field.

Thornbury batted first after Cheltenham won the toss and chose to field.

The first wicket fell when Marcus Wormwell was run-out for five with the score on 20-1.

And after a couple of hiccups Josh Slade and Vishal Mamgai both going cheaply, opener Dan Davis and Thornbury skipper Luke Davis dropped anchor with Luke going for 25 as Thornbury reached 115-4.

Another top partnership saw Dan Davis team-up with Danny Slade before Davis went for 86 from 99 balls.

Slade carried on with wicketkeeper Sam Summerfield before Summerfield was bowled for 21with the score on 189-6.

Slade battled on further to reach 37 before he was caught out before a bit of tail-wagging from the bowlers, with Joshua Morris making 15 and Luke Franklin finishing on an unbeaten 19, saw Thornbury to 241 all out.

In reply, Thornbury’s bowlers had an early success when Alex Haworth did not last long as he was trapped lbw by Tom Bradley for just two from 13 balls.

But the backbone of Cheltenham’s innings was Haworth’s opening partner Kieran Smith. Thornbury just could not get rid of him and a century partnership with number three Jeremy Duncan had the home side on the back foot.

Duncan eventually went for forty with the score on 122 but another partnership between Smith and Peter Woodland produced another 63 runs for the third wicket.

It seemed like Thornbury’s luck was out as Nick Evans added another 21 runs.

But some cheap wickets for Bradley gave them a chance as overs ran out before the last ball climax.