A BEAUTIFUL afternoon at Fry's in Keynsham found Bristol Sri Lankans playing host to the visiting Midsomer Norton Methodists, who opted to field first before losing an exciting match.

Shehan Somaratna and Weshan De Zoysa got off to a quick start, rattling up 28 runs in 20 balls before Shehan edged Paul Evans to the keeper. Asanka Anuradha then helped add 49 more for the second wicket, until left-armer Evans (2-29) struck again at the end of his excellent spell.

Charlotte Hazell (2-20) and Craig Eyles (1-38) bowled brilliantly in tandem for the next 16 overs, claiming crucial wickets to slow the Sri Lankans' progress - debutant Martin Hodge's amazing one-handed catch having dismissed Weshan for an excellent 49.

Somehow surviving some vociferous appeals from the Methodists, a flurry of runs late in the innings from Dhaham Panditharatne (34) and Sanjaya Rupasingha (53*) then shifted the momentum back in favour of the home team, taking them to a handy 207-7 from their forty overs.

In reply, the visitors started well as Hodge and skipper Alex Nash put on 34 for the first wicket. Nash (34) was then joined by Eyles to add another 25 runs, whereupon the former was undone by Deshika Thanthirigama's (3-49) first delivery - bringing James Green to the crease to join his uncle.

Seventy-seven runs at a good tempo saw the Methodists gaining the upper hand, but spinner Naufel Saleem's brilliant spell of 3-25 changed the game again - Eyles (41) and Green (64) both crucially bamboozled. A valiant wag of the visitors' tail then saw them get agonisingly close to the win, but the Sri Lankans did enough to clinch a narrow victory. Bristol Sri Lankans 207-7 v Methodists 203-9.

Methodists' Ball Sponsor - The Woolley Family; Methodists' Player Sponsors - The Dental Implant Clinic, Westsell Packaging, Mulberry, Purple Bricks.