Norton standing tall at halfway stage

Midsomer Norton continue to lead the Prem 2 Bristol/Som Division of the West of England Premier League after they picked up their latest 20-point haul at home to Bishopston on Saturday.

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Having been put into bat, Alex Lear (33) and Jake Roberts (18) made a steady start with an opening partnership of 26, before Norton slipped to 62-3 inside 16 overs.

Finn Kelsey added 24 to push Norton into three-figures, however the innings was then transformed by an incredible 86-ball knock from captain Callum Harvey. He and Bradley Parry (38) put on 97 for the fourth-wicket, before Adam Sylvester (42) helped to add another 52.

Harvey's innings came to an end for a fantastic 132, leaving Paul Robbins to hit an unbeaten 12 to push Norton to 320-8 from their 50 overs.

An opening stand of 90 got Bishopston off to a good start, however Norton bit back to quickly make it 109-4. With the momentum taken away, steady wickets throughout the rest of the reply eventually saw the visitors dismissed for 251 to leave Norton the winners by 69 runs with three balls of the match remaining.

Morgan Skipp managed 3-45, alongside a couple of wickets for both JC Harding and Robbins. Norton remain 28 points clear at the halfway point of the campaign.

Last Wednesday, Norton managed to progress in the T20 competition with a win at Bedminster in the play-off.

Opting to bat, Jake Roberts struck just under a run-a-ball 55 to anchor Norton's 20 overs, while knocks from 21 from Nick Pang, wicket-keeper Richard Staines and Skipp (not out) pushed the visitors to 145-6.

Only two Bedminster batters managed to reach 20 in reply before they were bowled out for 113 a ball shy of 17 overs. Robbins did most of the damage with 5-26 from four overs, before Harding secured the 32-run success with 3-21.

■TEMPLE CLOUD suffered mixed fortunes on Saturday as the first team suffered a heavy defeat at Bridgwater 2nd, while the second side delivered a confident win at home against Weston-super-Mare 3rd.