A CENTURY from Merv Hallaran powered Bridgwater to an 85-run victory over Ashcott and Shapwick on a sweltering day at The Parks on Saturday.

Hallaran (107) struck 11 fours and five sixes in his 123 ball innings, as Bridgwater posted an imposing total from their 50 overs.

In reply, 5-46 from Tom Drake helped to dismiss Ashcott well short despite a gutsy 49 from Steve Tinnion.

Having won the toss and elected to bat first, Bridgwater got off to a blistering start as openers Hallaran and Coles (68) took charge of the early exchanges.

The pair blasted the ball to all parts to set the foundation for a mammoth total.

Coles fell for 68 with the score on 154 as he was bowled by the spin of Will Sobczak (1-53), but there was no let up for Ashcott as Windsor (35) maintained his side’s momentum.

Hallaran went to his century with another powerful stroke through the leg-side but he was dismissed soon after – caught by James Haggett off the bowling of Wayne Spencer (2-62) to put an end to a superb innings.

Spencer then accounted for Windsor as the batsman picked out Cooper on the boundary to depart for 35.

However Chris Gange (33) and Andrew Skidmore (47) continued the carnage with some late fire-power.

Skidmore’s innings was particularly brutal, with his 47 coming off of just 27 deliveries.

Despite the free-flowing nature of the innings, Ashcott’s Nayan Karmarkar finished with figures of 0-27 from his ten overs – a remarkable effort in the context of the innings.

But he lacked support from the rest of the bowlers as Ashcott’s normally economic attack was unusually expensive.

Ashcott were always going to need a strong start to stand any chance of chasing Bridgwater’s huge total, but lost Daniel Cooper (8) and Will Sobczak (0) with the score on 13 – both bowled by the impressive Tom Drake.

The arrival of Steve Tinnion upped the Ashcott scoring rate as the captain began to take on the Bridgwater attack.

He and Rudge (15) took the score past 50, but the latter soon became Drake’s third victim of the afternoon when he was caught by Gange.

Kamarkar (36) joined Tinnion with the score on 58-3, but just as the pair were beginning to get going, Tinnion was dismissed by Skidmore for a well constructed 49 from 40 balls.

At 145-4, Ashcott were still in with a shout of victory, but that soon disappeared as Kamarakar, Ben Rudge (27) and Spencer (9) all fell in quick succession.

This left Drake to mop up the tail, complete his five-wicket haul, and seal an 85-run victory.

Bridgwater climb to fourth in the division while Ashcott remain in seventh, just two points from the drop zone.

Next Saturday, Bridgwater travel to Bath, while the 2nd X1 host Bath 2nds in a match crucial to their own title ambitions (1.30pm).

Match Sponsor: Charles Dickens. Match Ball Sponsor: TMB Patterns Ltd.