OPENER Dan Davis starred for Thornbury as they continued their march up the West of England Premier League Prem 2 Glos/Wilts division.

Davis hit 85 in the victory which keeps unbeaten Thornbury in the challenge for promotion and just two points off leaders Cheltenham.

Scorching conditions at The Ship Field welcomed the two sides on Saturday, on what could only be described as a perfect batting day.

Thornbury knew it would be no easy against a Westbury and District side that comprehensively defeated them twice last season.

Captain Luke Davis won the toss and unsurprisingly chose to bat, looking to amass a score in excess of three hundred runs.

In the absence of Nick Stovold, Vishal Mamgai partnered Davis at the top of the order and the pair got off to a flyer. Their partnership was worth eighty before Vishal departed LBW for thirty, but that laid a solid base for the rest of the innings.

Brother’s Marc and Dan Lezar came and went in quick succession for 17 and ten respectively, with the latter departing after an outstanding caught and bowled from Westbury’s Matt Coles.

At 146-3, Thornbury needed a couple of big partnerships to capitalise on the strong start, which is exactly what they did. Captain Luke Davis joined brother Dan at the crease and the two put on 66 before Dan was caught on the long-on boundary.

Danny Slade joined Luke in the middle and they put on 75 from just 55 deliveries, with the pair seemingly finding the boundary at will.

This was put to an end when Luke was caught for 67, but Sam Summerfield came in and carried on what Luke had started. He hit a quick-fire 21 not out from ten balls and Slade ended on 41 not out from thirty balls, leaving Thornbury on a huge 310-5.

Thornbury may have had the advantage at the half-way stage, but given the favourable batting conditions, Westbury still had a chance.

The visitors got off to an even better start than their hosts, reaching fifty without loss from just 42 deliveries.

A contentious LBW decision went the favour of Thornbury, with Tom Bradley dismissing Esau for 25.

However this brought Mills to the middle and he, along with Coles, were like men possessed as they hunted down the first innings total.

Their partnership passed 150 and, at one point, they looked like taking their team the distance on their own.

At 232-1, there would have been some nervous spectators around the ground, but a couple of bowling changes did the trick for Thornbury and helped relieve some tension.

The first ball of Tom Bradley’s second spell saw him bowl Mills for a spirited 78 and the next over saw the destructive Coles finally caught for 120 by Harry Wormwell off the bowling of Danny Slade.

After that, wickets started to tumble as the Westbury batsmen were forced to push on the accelerator.

Danny Slade ended with five wickets as well as a run out, with Tom Bradley picking up a couple and Harry Wormwell claiming the remaining scalp. This left Westbury to finish their 50 overs on 285-9; resulting in a 25-run victory for the hosts who remain unbeaten.

This weekend sees Davis’ men travel to Biddestone.