BURBAGE and Easton Royal made a fantastic start to their season as they claimed an emphatic victory on the opening day of the Premier Two Glos/Wilts season.

Their opponents, Gloucester City Winget, won the toss and elected to field on home turf against David Cope’s side.

However, that was a decision they came to regret as the visitors piled on the runs.

Captain Cope and Deepak Joon shared a 301-run second wicket stand after losing Haydon Amor with only four runs on the board.

When the skipper fell for a121-ball 124, striking 16 fours and two sixes, Joon continued to keep the scoreboard ticking as he blasted his way to an unbeaten 221 off 155 balls, which included 30 fours and six sixes, as Burbage closed on 399-4.

Dave Hemmings chalked up 91 for the visitors,who made a good attempt at chasing down the target they had been set.

Tom Collinson and Scott Montgomery also pitched in with half centuries, with 54 not out and 58 respectively, as the visitors fell short.

“It was a good start and it was important that we started the season with a win, especially against Gloucester City who are going to be around us in the league,” said Cope, who was delighted to see his side perform so well on the opening day of the season.

“It was important to us to start well, so I was chuffed with that.

“It was a really flat track and I could have batted on that all day.

“If we can put a good score up and put the other team under pressure, then we will look to do that.

“That is the way we like to go about our game. It was very much a day for the batsmen.

“Deepak batted superbly, he was timing everything well. He’s come into the season in good form and it was a pleasure to bat with Deepak at the other end .

“It means you can let the runs take care of themselves and that is what happened.”

Chippenham were unable to match Burbage as they slipped to an opening day defeat at the hands of Thornbury, falling 30 runs short of their 193 target.

Ollie Slade provided a rare highlight for the hosts as he opened up his account with a half-century off 76 balls.

Meanwhile, Goatacre kicked their season off with a win as they saw off Biddestone by 74 runs in their first fixture of the year.