In another thrilling encounter Carsons & Mangotsfield 1st XI edged past Barrow Gurney 1st XI by just one wicket, chasing down 227 with only two balls to spare in a heart-stopping finish.
After being put in to bat, Barrow Gurney’s innings was anchored by a superb unbeaten century from skipper Mark Brown, who compiled 108* off 114 balls, striking 14 fours and 2 sixes to score his third hundred in a row. Brown’s calm presence and ability to rotate the strike ensured Barrow posted a competitive total.
Guy Fisher was steady at the top of the order with a patient 34, navigating through some challenging early overs and tight bowling from the Carsons openers. As the innings progressed, Jordan Allen lit up the latter stages with a quickfire 25 off just 16 balls, providing crucial late impetus to push Barrow to 227/5 from their 40 overs.
Carsons & Mangotsfield’s chase started unconvincingly, slipping to 38/2 with early wickets for Mark Fisher and James Plowman on debut. Their chase was resurrected by a counter-attacking 54 off 43 balls from Kieran Gallagher, and an 83 from George Sutton, who guided Carsons almost till the final over.
The momentum shifted either side of drinks towards BGCC when Frank Forge (4/33) and Guy Fisher (1/46) bowled in tandem to slow the scoring and take key wickets, triggering a middle-order collapse, leaving Carsons 157-7 with significant work still to do.
Fast forward to 3 overs to go and needing 17 runs with three wickets in hand, Carsons looked favourites — but Barrow Gurney weren’t done yet. They struck twice in quick succession, including a sensational diving catch by Josh Yelland at deep cover, who flew forward to take a low, momentum shifting grab. At 211/9, the visitors sniffed a remarkable win. The pressure ratcheted up further with a few very tight LBW shouts, however the Carsons number 11 held their composure with a cover drive for 4 to seal the win.
Meanwhile a blistering century from opener Will Thompson and a decisive four-wicket haul by David Smith guided Barrow Gurney 2nd XI to a memorable 30-run victory over Bristol Malayalee 1st XI in an action-packed encounter at Hobbs Lane.
Opting to bat after winning the toss, Barrow Gurney got off to a strong start as openers Will Thompson and Ben Skuse (40) built a solid platform. The duo put on 149 for the first wicket, with Thompson dominating the partnership. He went on to score a stunning 104 off 81 balls, his second in as many games, peppering the boundary with 17 fours and a six. Useful contributions from the middle order, notably Abe Gibbs (43* off 37) and Chris Milton (21) as Barrow closed their innings at a commanding 301 for 6 in 40 overs.
In response, Bristol Malayalee were quickly on the back foot, losing five wickets for just 59 runs as David Smith tore through the top order taking 4 for 55. Michael York and Sebastian Allen chipped in with wickets, leaving the visitors in deep trouble.However, a stunning century batting at 10 by Akhil Aravindakshan gave some solace to the visitors. Aravindakshan smashed an unbeaten 105 from just 71 balls, with 9 fours and 8 sixes. A 10th-wicket partnership of 100 runs to close the game out as the visitors ended on 271 – 9 off their 40 overs