DOWNEND dug in to tie a thriller away to Bridgwater in one of only a handful of West of England Premier League matches to overcome the wet weather.
Bridgwater, requiring 304 from 45 for the spoils, were well behind the run rate in this Premier Division clash before Mike Coles took centre stage with some devastating hitting as the 42nd and 43rd overs yielded 45 runs.
That left his side needing 16 from the final two overs. But skipper Brandon Gilmour brought Downend back into contention by holding a skier off his own bowling to dismiss Coles for 92 off 78 (nine fours, five sixes) and conceding only six runs from the penultimate over.
That left Bridgwater needing ten for victory off the final over, sent down by former captain Matt Jackson whose first ball went for four.
Jackson, though, conceded only four more runs from his next four deliveries, and Chris Skidmore was run out from the final delivery attempting to complete the winning run, Bobby Naeem accurately returning the ball to the stumps from midwicket.
Earlier, Gloucestershire’s Miles Hammond claimed 3-39 from nine overs of spin while Naeem captured 2-52 from eight with Gilmour (1-34 from five) and Jackson (0-39 from five) also playing key roles.
Downend, who lost the toss, owed much to Jordan Garrett (89 from 67, nine fours, three sixes) and opener Mahadi Saleem (61) while there was also 41 from Hammond along with an unbeaten 39 by Callum Loud who launched the last two balls of the innings for six.
In Premier Two Bristol & Somerset, Nottinghamshire’s Pete Trego took 5-25 from eight for Weston-super-Mare who held off visitors Winterbourne by 21 runs.
Skipper George Ford (68) and Sam Bracey (57) top scored for the South Gloucestershire side.
Only one match was completed in the Bristol & North Somerset division, and it was a heart stopper with Bristol 2nds securing a last over one-wicket home success over Bristol West Indian Phoenix.
Opener Jack Baber (46) and Raj Chudasama (43) lifted the visitors to 196-7 off 30 before Charlie Spink took centre stage for Bristol with a dramatic unbeaten 65 from 35 (five fours, three sixes).