WEPL Somerset Division
Bridgwater 2nd XI 195-9 beat Wellington 192 by one wicket

A MATCH-winning innings from No 9 Daniel Rossiter enabled Bridgwater to creep home by the narrowest of margins at The Parks on Saturday.

Wellington are yet to win a league game but came mighty close to upsetting the form book.

Batting first, the visitors looked in reasonable shape as they reached 100-3.

It was then they lost their start turn, opener Kayden Hine, for 43 to Andrew Skidmore and the innings slid away as the home attack went up a gear.

The introduction of Matt Habberfield and Andrew Skidmore made runs hard to come by and, after R. Davies and A. Sparks left after scoring useful 30s, there was little resistance until the tail wagged.

I. Hewson hit a late, unbeaten 15, and W. Derrick a defiant 13 before the innings closed on 192.

Skidmore took 3-34 and Habberfield 3-33 after Scott Clapp began the rot with 3-30 off eight fine overs.

Setting out to reach what looked a mediocre target, Bridgwater were immediately in trouble as Hewson and Luke Desave destroyed the top order.

Skidmore started to repair the damage, hitting a timely 33 in tandem with Alastair Witts’ 32.

Wellington, however, hit back and, at 134-9, it looked all over for Bridgwater with 59 still required for victory.

Daniel Rossiter, however, stepped up to the crease to turn the game on its head.

With Ian Higgins at the other end, Rossiter took on the Wellington attack, hitting three 6s and eight 4s before holding his bat aloft as he returned to the pavilion unbeaten on 62 and with 18 unexpected points.

On Saturday, Bridgwater travel to Weston-super-Mare (12.30pm start).

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WEPL Somerset Division
North Petherton 119-1 beat Minehead 118 by nine wickets 

A FINE all-round performance from Brad Porteus saw North Petherton coast to victory at home to Minehead on Saturday.

Porteus took 4-24 as the struggling Seasiders slumped to 118 after making a reasonable start with Andrew Stevens hitting 32 and Brad Martin 21.

Liam Winter also claimed two of the early wickets in his four overs as the Minehead middle-late order failed to reach double figures.

In reply, Lewis Irish reached 22 before he became the victim of Jay Darrell.

However, it was plain sailing thereafter as Porteus (44no) and Tom Williams (47no) reached their target in the 21st over.

On Saturday, third-placed North Petherton travel to bottom club Wellington (1pm start).

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WEPL Somerset Division
Wembdon 1st XI 219-3 beat Temple Cloud 1st XI 217 by seven wickets

FOLLOWING a busy week of cricket in which Wembdon 1st XI won five games in five days, their sixth game was a long away trip to newly-promoted Temple Cloud, writes Dan Bingham.

Wembdon skipper Jon Brockwell won the toss and elected to bowl first in overcast conditions.

This looked a good decision as the ball swung during the opening exchanges and made life difficult for the Temple Cloud openers - who rode their luck with some big swings of the blade falling in gaps.

Eventually, Brockwell got the breakthrough, as one shot too many was held in the deep by Josh Henry.

Brendan Pope was among the action on his return, as he got a well deserved wicket as Hackett (17) edged behind.

The introduction of Dan Bingham removed Forrest (20) early, and he went on to bowl an economical spell of eight overs for 11 runs.

Temple Cloud’s innings rested on A. Mortimer, who was still landing some big blows as the hosts continued to play in their aggressive style.

Bingham had Mortimer caught in the deep for 67, though, and that proved a turning point.

The introduction of spinner Josh Henry (3-48) and K. Trunks (3-3) ripped through the lower order, and Wembdon were very happy to dismiss Temple Cloud for 217 when at one stage a score of 270-280 looked likely.

In reply, Dan Bingham and Stone worked through the opening exchanges, collecting regular boundaries.

Bingham went lbw for 14 and Stone (21) was caught behind, bringing Sam Puddy and Jon Brockwell together for a match-defining partnership, as the pair found the boundaries with ease, Brockwell in particular.

Skipper Brockwell raced to his 50 and then went on to his and Wembdon’s maiden century of the year, off just 66 balls - balls flying over the rope in all parts of the ground.

Puddy (36) played a supporting role but was dismissed shortly before the end, allowing Liam Pigden to enjoy a quick cameo, striking 22no.

Wembdon reached their target in the 31st over, with almost 20 overs to spare – skipper Brockwell finishing on 107no.

Next Saturday Wembdon host Chard (1pm at The Green, Wembdon).

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EARLIER in the week, Wembdon had an eight-wicket win at home to Staplegrove in the Baker Cup, to reach the quarter-finals. And, on Wednesday, Wembdon defeated Taunton St Andrew’s in the SCB Major Cup by 55 runs, Bingham (64no) and Brockwell (93) sharing a 157 partnership for the first wicket.