WEPL Premier One

Bridgwater 291-8 beat Potterne 259-8 by 32 runs

BRIDGWATER made the trip to league newcomers Potterne for their first WEPL Premier outing of the season on Saturday which eventually saw the visitors come out on top after a rollercoaster day.

Potterne won the toss at the small, picturesque ground in Wiltshire and inserted the visiting team on a typical early season wicket.

Bridgwater got off to a steady start losing captain Merv Hallaran to a perplexing LBW decision early on, before a dominant display by the remainder of the Bridgwater top order put the visitors into a strong position.

Bridgwater's Somerset signing Adam Hose commanded the early part of the innings and built a solid platform with George Bartlett, before Hose was out caught for a solid 64 with the score on 135.

Bartlett continued to accumulate runs with ease, and was assisted by Gange before holing out for a classy run-a-ball 70, leaving the visitors 165-3 after 30 overs.

Gange then played a supreme innings of 77 from just 57 balls, and was ably assisted by Steve Davis (20) in the latter overs to lift Bridgwater's total to 291-8 from their 50. Most in the ground thought this a par score for the conditions.

Bridgwater struggled to pick up wickets during the first half of Potterne's innings, with openers Tom Cullen and Luke De Souza building a solid partnership of 135 from 28 overs, before Chris Singleton had De Souza caught with a sharp bouncer for 67. Sri Lankan import Sahan Wijerathne picked up where De Souza left off, and along with Cullen steadily built what many in the ground thought would be a match-winning partnership of 84.

With Potterne needing 130 to win off 19 overs with 9 wickets still in hand, Bridgwater's hopes of victory were fading fast.

Australian paceman Alex Frick had other ideas however, and on a return spell up the hill picked up the important wicket of Cullen for 94 bowled through the gate.

Frick, along with Bartlett's off-spin down the hill, dried the runs up and this reaped serious rewards as Wijerathne played a frustrated shot off Frick and was caught at long on for 40. Frick struck the very next ball with a dangerous bouncer to the new batsman who could only glove the ball to short fine leg. Suddenly the game was in the balance with the home team requiring 75 from 8 overs with six wickets in hand.

Any hopes faded fast as Liam Redrup and Chris Skidmore bowled superb final spells displaying some great death bowling. Redrup and Skidmore picked up two wickets a piece to leave Potterne stranded at 259-9 from their 50.

This was a fantastic all-round team performance against a side, and on a ground, which will surprise some of the established teams in Premier 1 this year.

Next week is a huge game for the club as the host great rivals Bath at The Parks, 12.30pm start. The club would like to thank match ball sponsor TMB Patterns and travel sponsors Falcon Self Drive and Charles Dickens Estate Agents for their continued support.