No baby blues for Prince Harry as Deane continue May march

Having won the toss, stand-in skipper Sam Shaikh elected to bat on a wicket that produced some assistance to the new ball early on. The home side were soon in trouble as the Deane were reduced to 5-1 then 12-2 as openers Grant Davey (0) and Sam Loud (2) fell in identical fashion, caught by Dan Jarman at gully from the bowling of Ben Clarke.
Tenessee Harlow and Harry Thomas managed to add a further 48 runs, Number 3 Harlow showed signs of form and promise from his 53 the previous week, but could not capitalise on a good start as he then succumbed LBW to the miserly Sam Wheller (3-22). Luke Williams was bowled and Harry Smith also fell LBW to Wheller as the Deane floundered on 71-5. When debutant Jamie Stephens was caught behind for 3 the scoreboard read 86-5 with more than 30 overs left.
However, number 4 Thomas stood firm with bullish drives, cuts and pulls and he was joined by captain Shaikh to set about the rescue job and the pair saw the Deane to 98-5 at the halfway stage.
The two left handers continued their work after drinks and Thomas reached his half century as the pair pushed the home side past a first, second and third batting point with 15 overs left. Thomas was ebullient in his strokeplay finding the boundary when the opportunity presented, whilst Shaikh found was more watchful at the other end.
The partnership yielded a further batting point as Thomas secured a hard fought century but as the Deane moved to 186, Thomas was bowled off his pads looking to force one way to the short leg side boundary with 8 overs left. The sixth wicket partnership of 102 had brought the Deane right back into the game.
After Shaikh was run out backing up at the non-strikers end and Will Hardwick was bowled by Jack Stiff first ball, a late flurry of wickets saw The Deane eventually finish on 194 all out. A score unlikely when the Deane were 86-6 and a competitive total given the early batting conditions.

The Keynsham reply saw James Mitchell and James Bancroft play with intent, however, the dismissal of Bancroft, caught sharply at slip by centurion Thomas heralded a rush of three quick wickets. Dan Jarman was plumb LBW the very next ball, before Will Hardwick breached the defence of opener Mitchell with a swinging delivery.
Anthony Cains (19) and Dan Price moved Keynsham past 50 and to 79 just before drinks before youngster Harry Smith trapped Cains in front LBW and Jamie Stephens deceived Richard Pannell (2) into lofting a catch to Rob Pryke at mid-on.
At 94-5 the Deane felt in control but the Dan Price was steadfast against the home attack and also managed to clear boundary on a number of occasions after surviving two close stumping and LBW appeals.
Keynsham keeper Mark Branton joined Price but golden boy Thomas deceived Branton in the air to disturb the bails and send Keynsham 99-6.
Jamie Stephens accounted for away captain Tom Bryan (3) after he had added 27 with Price and threatened to take Keynsham deep into the run chase.
However, the Deane victory was all but sealed as Stephens then lured Price into a false sweep towards the deep midwicket boundary where Harry Smith hung onto a looping catch. Deane sensed victory and it was left to centurion Thomas to claim the final wicket as Sam Wheller squirted a spinning catch to a diving Tenessee Harlow at point after number 10 Jack Stiff had just been run out by Will Hardwick.

The Deane had won by 60 runs, taking 3 batting and full bowling points from an improbable margin of victory earlier in the day. The victory sees Deane move into third place into the Premier Two table ahead of another home fixture against league leaders Winterbourne next Saturday.