West Of England Premier League

Glos Wilts Division

Lechlade 313-9

Westbury 222-9

NEW boy Bradley Dial opened his batting account on Saturday with a debut century as Lechlade comfortably beat fellow pre-season favourites Westbury by 91 runs at the Manor Ground.

South African Dial opened the batting and instantly stamped his quality and authority on the game when he drove the first ball to the boundary for four.

Dial scored 14 off the first over as he made his intentions clear.

Joe Breet joined Dial at the crease following Oli Thornley’s dismissal and the pair quickly turned the scoreboard, adding 79 before Breet was dismissed LBW for 39.

Will Nichols joined Dial and they built steadily on the total as Dial closed in on his century.

Dial completed his ton in the 28th over off 90 balls but was dismissed four balls later when he was trapped LBW by Martin Dolman with the score on 160.

Dial's wicket then brought about a mini Lechlade collapse as they lost four wickets for 17 runs off just 48 deliveries.

Arran Dickinson slowly steadied the ship, scoring 63 off 55 balls to take Lechlade to 270 before being bowled by Tom Cullen. With a good score on the board Asanka Vithanage, with Sam Burdock playing the support role, struck out to add considerably to the Lechlade total off the last three overs. Vithanage finished not out 40 from 20 balls as Lechlade closed on 313.

Westbury got off to a steady start in attempting to chase down the Lechlade total, scoring 41 off the first 10 overs but once Michael Craigs had dismissed both the Westbury openers, Daniel Gill and Cullen, in the eighth and 10th overs respectively Westbury never looked like getting close to the Lechlade total.

Vithanage also put the squeeze on the Westbury run rate with a 10-over spell for just 29 runs in which he picked up three wickets and despite defiant knocks by Jared McDonald (37), David Wade (62) and Rob Hislop (34) Westbury fell 91 runs short at the close of the innings.

Craigs finished with 5-41 off his 10 overs as he picked up the last two wickets of the day.

Dial said: “I wanted to make a good contribution in a winning start at the beginning of the day and I am well pleased with my performance and the result.

"I don’t think it could have gone much better for me or the team.”

Lechlade captain Breet was also upbeat after the game, saying: “We have got off to a great start to the season. It wasn’t easy today and the boys kept going to the end.

"We are batting well as a unit posting two 300 plus scores and the bowlers are on top of their game as well. All in all I am very satisfied with today and how we have started the season.”

LECHLADE seconds completed the double over Westbury with a seven-wicket win after bowling their hosts out for 135, with David Novais and Rizwan Hassan taking three wickets each. Lechlade then scored the required runs off just 18 overs with Hassan and Charles Offord scoring 48 and 41 not out respectively.