Poulton 1st XI remain unbeaten at Englands thanks to a comprehensive win over Chipping Sodbury 2nds in a match reduced to 34 overs thanks to the rain.

After being put into bat by the visitors, Poulton opening pair of Scott Meredith and Jody Lawrence set the tone for the innings by scoring freely, peppering the boundary in the first 10 overs to reach 57-0.

Lawrence in particular took a liking to the Sodbury change bowling, shifting gears excellently to take Poulton to 105-0 at the halfway stage and reaching a quickfire 50 in the process.

Sodbury eventually broke the partnership in the 20th over, Lawrence caught behind for 65.

This sparked a revival in the Sodbury ranks and the quick wickets of Mark Burton and Jon Maunder saw Poulton fall to 112-3. Robbie James and Scott Meredith rebuilt well but when Meredith fell for 34 and Sam Denning in the next over Poulton were stumbling at 128-5.

Charlie Buse joined Robbie James and the pair put on 30 in quick time before Buse fell for a brisk 18.

Liam James joined his brother at the crease and the pair wrestled the momentum back for Poulton, scoring freely before younger brother Robbie was dismissed for an excellent 40.

Older brother Liam took over the reigns and some lusty blows saw him finish 23 not out, Poulton closing on a well above par 205-7.

The Sodbury opening pair of brothers Tom and Ben Makepeace struggled to score early on thanks to tight bowling from Charlie Buse and James Newman.

Boundaries started to flow for the brothers, before Poulton struck in three successive overs.

Buse removing both brothers in the 9th and 11th overs, while a superb run out from Liam James in the 10th over left Sodbury in trouble at 47-3.

Simon Vooght and Edward Holden dug in well for Sodbury, but found scoring tough as typically lively fielding from Poulton and tight bowling from the James brothers saw the required rate rise quickly to eight an over and put Poulton well in control.

Liam James continued his good day by striking twice in the space of three overs to leave Sodbury at 99-5.

The score increased to 118-5 before the introduction of youngster Dan Davies killed the game as a contest as he took two wickets with his second and third balls.

A huge lbw appeal turned down on hat-trick ball took a side note as Matt Genever threw the stumps down with batsman out of his crease and Poulton celebrated a team hat-trick.

Robbie James got a deserved wicket in the next over when he clean bowled the stubborn Vooght for 29 to leave Sodbury 119-9, but the 10 and 11 partnership of Jay Penfold and Tom Clay stuck out the final seven overs to deny Poulton maximum points but still cruise to a 71 run victory.

Poulton extend their lead over third placed Hatherley and Reddings to 14 points thanks to their game at Tetbury falling victim to the weather.