With just one game week of the 2024 season still to play, the men's 1st XI have secured their second promotion in a row, with victory away at Knowle confirming their status as WEPL Bristol & North Somerset champions.
With OBWCC top of the league going into the game, but with Knowle just one place behind with one other game to play, it was a match which looked set to define the season for the 1st XI and so it proved.
On.a day which saw significant rain in the morning it was first blood to the hosts, as Knowle won the toss and elected to bowl, in a match reduced to 35 overs a side.
After a steady start by OBW's things took a turn in the 10th over when Ben Jarman (sponsored by New Heat Plumbing) and Connor Crane (sponsored by We Dig Landscaping) were out in successive balls. OBW's then slipped to 63-4 Ben Figueiredo was out caught and things looked in the balance, before a strong partnership between Fletcher May (sponsored by Travis Perkins) and Ben Cunliffe (sponsored by Mezze Restaurant) steadied the ship.
When May was eventually run out on 42 the score read 134-5, while Cunliffe had reached 50 by the time he was run out in the final over, OBW's ending the innings on 179.
With sides having struggled to deal with OBW's bowling attack all season it was a similar story and in the end, the result never looked hugely in doubt.
Knowle lost their first wicket for 13 runs and found themselves 57-4 more than half way through their innings, meaning their lower order would have to get most of the runs if they were to secure victory for them.
Instead regular wickets continued to fall and the hosts were eventually bowled out for 115 in the 32nd over. Having already got 50 with the bat Ben Cunliffe finished pick of the bowlers with figures of 5.1-1-4-10, while Joel Brierley (sponsored by Redink Construction) and Jino Jojo (sponsored by Orca Electrical) bagged two wickets each. There were also two run outs for Ross Whyte (sponsored by Westbury Park Chiropractic).
It means with one match left to play OBW's sit top of the WEPL Bristol & North Somerset table, 28 points clear of Knowle, with just 20 left to play for, therefore securing their position as champions.
It comes a week after the men's 2nd XI secured their league title in Bristol and District Division Four (their game this week succumbed to the weather), whilst OBW's youth sides have also won four league titles and two cup competitions this summer, making it one of the most successful seasons for the club in recent memory.
Elsewhere this Bank Holiday weekend the men's 3rd XI were beaten away at Lodway by six wickets, meaning they must gain at least three points in their final match next weekend at home to Long Ashton, to guarantee their safety in B&D Division Seven West.
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