A depleted Lodway 1st XI suffered a resounding defeat on Saturday at Lansdown 2nds, ending the first half of the season with a defeat that damaged Lodway’s promotion hopes.

Having been inserted by the hosts on a sporting pitch, Adam Robson and Tobias Rice made a strong start, with Robson himself reaching 28 after 8 overs before first change bowler George Wood had him caught behind, as Wood and Sam Bowery (2-37) took pace off the ball and reduced the run rate. University of Gloucestershire chums Rice and Alex Tierney found the going tough in their second wicket partnership before Bowery bowled Tierney for 14, with drinks taken shortly afterwards with the score on 94-2. However, in the first over after the interval, Rice played around a straight one from Wood (2-31) to fall for 31, which precipitated the downfall of Lodway in the Bath sun. Although Joe Rowsell (29) and Paul Stubbs (16) briefly threatened to lead Lodway to a competitive total, Rowsell’s dismissal to spinner Vijay Krishna (3-25) exposed Lodway’s lengthy tail, with none of the bottom six able to contribute more than 4 as Lodway melted in the heat to end 144 all out.

With Lodway requiring quick wickets to have any chance of making a game of it, Lansdown openers James Pitman and Danny Poole blunted the opening overs before Rice found the edge of Poole to settle in the gloves of Edmonds for 16. With Pitman striking the ball well at one end, Harry Veal (10, before being bowled by Tierney (1-48)) and Sam Athay were happy to play supporting roles until Athay was run out taking on injured, stand-in skipper Matty Crutchley in the inner ring. At this point, Pitman sensed that there was a century for the taking, scoring the vast majority of the remaining runs required, managing to reach his quick-fire century by scoring the winning runs at the end of the 25th over to finish on 101* and leading his side to a commanding 7-wicket victory.

The crushing defeat leaves Lodway fourth at the halfway point, and they hope for a better performance at fifth-placed Midsomer Norton on Saturday