Bradford handed a scare by battling Box

WILTSHIRE LEAGUE

After being bowled out for an under- par 106, Box had Bradford 80-7 at one stage before the hosts completed a three-wicket.

After Bradford skipper James Edwards won the toss and asked Box to bat first, Nick Gerrish (3-18) made the breakthough by bowling Neil Pettit (7) with the score on 19 and then trapping Messina lbw with the next ball.

A useful partnership between Chris Bultitude (44) and Tony Trotman followed before the latter was bowled by Sam Edwards (4-33). Kegan Smart (3-22) tore through the middle order before the returning Gerrish finished the innings with the wicket of top-scorer Bultitude.

Box looked to put immediate pressure on Bradford and Dave Crawford and Gerald Hayward quickly reduced them to 14-3.

The stubborn Matthew Harrington (30) and Gerrish set about repairing the damage but were separated when Hayward bowled the latter for nine.

Crawford finished with miserly figures of 4-8 from 12 overs – nine of which were maidens – to leave Bradford in trouble but Paul Ashton (17no) and Smart (9no) saw the hosts to victory.

Box captain Crawford said: “Quite simply, yet again we didn’t get enough runs on the board, the wicket played a couple of tricks but a more defendable total would of been 130 to 140.

“Having said that, we worked hard and took wickets at crucial times to make a game of it and we certainly made Bradford panic.

“But fair play to a couple of their batsmen, particularly Harrington who dogged it out when needed.”

Bradford dropped to third place despite their win after picking up 19 points to the 23 title rivals Westinghouse collected for beating Wroughton Wranglers. The two teams meet in a crunch match at Bradford on Saturday.

The threat of relegation still lingers for

Bath Civil Service’s Division 2 promotion hopes were dealt a major blow by Beanacre, the second-placed team they now trail by 30 points following a 100-run home defeat.

C Singh hit 58 to help the visitors reach 212-5 and R Hemmings (4-33) led the way as Civil Service were bowled out in reply.

Corsham 3rds moved level on points with Civil Service after a one-wicket away win over their Swindon counterparts. J Walsh (55) scored a half-century as Corsham just got home, having bowled their hosts out for 156.

In Division 3, struggling

Steve Ball bowled

Third-placed

Bradford Town 2nds tied with Potterne 3rds to keep their place at the top of Division 5. N Coles (81) and H Ricketts (60) scored half-centuries as Bradford posted 227-5, a tally matched by the third-placed home side, who lost nine wickets in the process.

At the other end of the table,

Norton St Philip dismissed visiting Swindon Nalgo 2nds for 96 on their way to a three-wicket success that kept them second in Division 6. Lee Hodgson (4-24) and Rob Anstee (3-9) impressed with the ball before Oli Mowat (45no) anchored Norton’s reply.

R Styles took 6-28 for Division 7 front-runners

Winsley 3rds defended a low total to earn a 29-run victory at Marshfield 3rds. Mark Dixon took 5-18 from 11 overs to restrict Winsley to 115-9 but Marshfield were bowled out for 86 in reply, with Stephen Chalke (3-22), Ellis Rees (3-25) and Howard Morland (2-12) doing most of the damage.