Charlton Kings Junior School are the 2017 Gloucestershire Year 3 and 4 Kwik Cricket champions after beating North Nibley in the final.

The Cheltenham school held their nerve to secure victory off the last ball of a hard fought match.

Chasing 255 to win, North Nibley were left needing five off the final ball but could only scamper a single, giving Charlton Kings a three-run win.

The tense finish was a fitting end to an excellent county finals day at Wycliffe College in Stonehouse.

Nine schools from across Gloucestershire took part after winning their respective district tournaments.

Ninety-two schools initially entered the competition which is played using a soft ball and a pairs cricket format where every player bats and bowls. Each team starts on 200 and are deducted five runs for each wicket lost.

Charlton Kings Juniors, Bishop’s Cleeve Primary Academy and Henleaze qualified for the semi-finals after topping their groups while North Nibley made it through as the best runners-up.

The highlight of the group stages was an incredible over from North Nibley’s Mark Barber which saw six wickets fall. Five went to the bowler while the sixth was a run out in the match against St John’s CE Academy from Coleford.

The first semi-final saw a rematch between North Nibley and Bishop’s Cleeve who had met in the groups.

In the first game Bishop’s Cleeve won by two runs but the last four clash saw a reversal of fortunes as North Nibley came out on top by the same margin. The other semi-final saw Charlton Kings Juniors just edge out Henleaze in a highly competitive game.

The year three and four competition is one of three schools Kwik Cricket tournaments run by the Gloucestershire Cricket Board (GCB) each year.

Last month Elmea won the primary open competition (for boys and girls) and Henleaze won the girls’ county title at the finals day at Cheltenham College.

GCB projects and programmes manager Chris Munden said: “Every year I am taken aback by the high standard of cricket on show at the year three and four finals day and this year was no exception.

“It is fantastic to see the children playing competitive matches at such a young age and hopefully this will inspire them to keep playing cricket both in school and at local clubs.”