CHARLTON DOWN 249-8 (18pts) beat BRADFORD ABBAS 173-7 (8pts) by 76 runs

CHARLTON Down moved within one point of leaders Puddletown in County Division Five after an emphatic 76-run victory over Bradford Abbas set up an exciting clash with the league frontrunners on Saturday.

A fine batting display at the top of the order by Jae Miller (43) and Nick Voss (37) helped the visitors on their way.

But it was 19-year-old Luke Voss who produced a classical innings of 66 not out for Charlton Down to steal the show.

The Charlton Down batsmen looked at ease on a difficult wicket and it was Bill Hewisonn (2-37) and Chris Douch (3-42) who combined to stem the flow of runs.

Hewisonn struck twice to bowl Miller with a yorker and then have Matt Stevens caught with a leading edge to Douch with the score on 120-3.

Douch then struck three times in five overs. First, Nick Voss was caught by Brill at mid-off, and then Kim Park and Dan Stevens were dismissed to leave Charlton Down struggling on 162-6.

A 53-run partnership between Javed Gill (29) and Luke Voss in only five overs then took the game away from Bradford Abbas as both batsmen unleashed some powerful hitting.

The returning Stuart Giles bowled Gill for 29 off 18 balls but this only allowed incoming batsman Mark Homewood to continue the onslaught, accumulating a 34-run partnership with Luke Voss to end Charlton Down’s innings on 249-8.

The Bradford Abbas batsmen started positively in reply and Douch and Dan Walters soon had 34 runs on the board.

That was until Matt Stevens (1-25) had Walters caught at point by the safe hands of Gill.

Douch was joined by Rich Steadeford and both looked to continue being positive, and at the 20-over mark they had set a platform for the hosts with the score on 92-1.

But change bowlers Park (2-42) and Gill (1-33) struck in consecutive overs. Park removed the dangerous Douch for 43 and then visiting skipper Pete Tucker caught Steadeford off Gill for 27.

It was then left to Homewood and Rich Fagence to dry up the runs and the latter to nip out Bradford’s Chris Wills.

The hosts eventually reached a total of 173-7 from their allotted overs as Charlton Down sealed their 10th win of the season.

Following the victory, visiting captain Tucker said: “It was great to see another young player like Luke Voss contribute to the win with a very experienced batting display.”