CORSHAM captain Tom Smith starred with the ball as his side bolstered their hopes of another season in Premier Two Glos/Wilts thanks to a five-wicket win over Dumbleton, writes JONATHAN LEIGHFIELD.

Smith claimed four wickets as his side won their third game on the bounce, moving them up into the middle of the table and further away from relegation fears.

Dumbleton batted first on their home patch, and after gliding to 117-3, were restricted to 206 all out by Corsham’s Alexander Higgins (3-46) and skipper Smith (4-35).

In response, Corsham got off to a flier as wicketkeeper-batsman Charley Reed (69) and Adam Mitchell (50) made it to 100 before the first wicket fell.

And with the help of some sensible batting to follow, Corsham made it over the winning line in the 35th over.

Relieved to see some of their pre-season targets now in full view before August has arrived, Smith underlined the importance of continuing the positive momentum his side has built in recent weeks.

“It was an important win,” said Smith.

“Our plan was to stay out of the bottom two and we’re comfortably out of it now, but we’ve probably got to win three of our last nine games to make sure we stay there.

“Over the last three weeks, the cricket has been going in the right direction.

“The director of cricket, Richard Foley, and I sat down a couple of weeks back and discussed how we were going to go about the back end of the season.

“It’s going exactly to be plan at the moment, but we need to keep winning and we’ve got a couple of really tough games coming up – Chippenham and Goatacre – so it’s a crucial few weeks.”

Elsewhere, Frocester openers Andy Solomons and Uzi Qureshi both scored massive personal totals in their side’s 176-run victory at home to Burbage & Easton Royal.

Solomons struck 183 from 117 balls – featuring 17 fours and 11 sixes – while Wiltshire’s Qureshi swatted 147 from 139 deliveries as Frocester posted 398-4.

Burbage’s John Riekert hit 50 before his side were bowled out for 222 in reply.

Biddestone skipper Tyrone Isitt took a five-for and scored 50 as his side defeated Goatacre by two wickets. Goatacre made 256 all out before Isitt’s side squeaked home with four balls to spare.

Chippenham remain top after a 22-run victory over struggling Stroud.

Graeme Van Buuren’s 97 not out fired the visitors to 321-6 while Louis Gegg’s fantastic 143 not out from 85 balls was ultimately in vain.

Thornbury cruised to a seven-wicket win over Trowbridge as Luke Davis (4-24) reduced the home side to 129 all out before Dan Davis (56) saw Thornbury over the line.