Sweetfuels CDCA Div Three

Cirencester III 180-3; Langford 179-7

CIRENCESTER thirds recorded back-to-back wins with a seven-wicket victory against Langford's 2nd XI.

Electing to bat, Langford’s opening pairing of Jack Brown (42) and Billy King (15) started steadily with Henry Elsey and Max Arnold (1-24) taking the new ball for the hosts.

King was dismissed by Arnold but Brown continued to bat sensibly to keep the momentum going. The introduction of Mike Howell’s (3-40) leg spin and Kieron Milsom’s swing maintained control on the scoring.

Ed Russell (2-23) and Phoebe Beale (1-43) closed out the bowling, though the loss of Elsey to a shoulder injury left a few gaps in the field and Langford finished their innings on 179-7.

Skipper Jack Brown top-scored with 42 and Leo McLoughlin’s entertaining 22 runs was next best.

After the teenage bowling attack, it was time for Cirencester's ‘mature’ batters to take centre stage. Captain Jimmy Woodcock (79*) and Will Sherwood (24) put on an opening stand of 57, broken by the introduction of Dan Bibb (2-43) who collected two quick wickets.

Ben Potter’s spin slowed down the scoring rate, but Richard Moody hit a solid 22 and Mark Hull hobbled his way to 16* as Cirencester won with four overs to spare.

Cirencester’s six bowlers were aged 17 or under, a great advertisement for both youth development and opportunities available at the cricket club.