WEPL Premier 2 Bristol/Somerset

Taunton 249-6 beat Weston-super-Mare 170 by 79 runs

TAUNTON recovered from a nightmare start to record their second successive win on Saturday, Dan Quick scoring a brilliant century for the hosts.

James Hayes also played his part, dismissing Somerset star Peter Trego to take the game away from Weston-super-Mare at Gipsy Lane.

Taunton had begun the day by opting to bat, but Trego (3-30 off 10 overs) wreaked havoc with the ball as he clean bowled two of the hosts’ top three, George Cox dismissing the other to leave them 8-3.

Home skipper Hugh Kelly said: “Trego was swinging it both ways, which you don’t see often at this level.

“He’s just a wizard with the ball, and it was the hardest time to bat on the day.”

Quick was struck on the head early on but stuck around, his unbeaten 107 being the crucial knock which anchored the rest of the home innings.

Captain Kelly contributed 53 and Will Abell 47 as Taunton finished their 50 overs on 249-6.

“I still felt we were 20 runs short on what was a good batting track,” said Kelly.

“So we would need to field and bowl well, which we did.”

Ollie Sale (1-33 off six) removed Jack Press (13), but Weston looked well set with the quality of former Somerset wicketkeeper Rob Turner alongside Trego at the crease.

Kelly said: “Weston were cruising, but James Hayes changed the game in two balls, removing Trego [36] and then Shabil Ahmed [0].

“Dan Quick was probably our man of the match, but we wouldn’t have won if James hadn’t got Trego out.”

Wicketkeeper Quick took the catch to dismiss Trego for 36, and then Will Plummer (6), to give Hayes figures of 3-19 off seven.

James Clark was the man to take care of Turner (29), on his way to 3-30 off 10.

Max Toohey (1-34 off nine) accounted for the dangerous Scott Harris (21), leaving Abell (2-16 off 4.5) to sweep up the tail and secure a 79-run victory for the hosts.

Taunton seek a third straight win away to Winterbourne on Saturday.

WEPL Premier 1

Bath 323-7 beat Taunton St Andrew’s 156 by 167 runs

A 19-BALL half-century from Tom Banton was not enough to help Taunton St Andrew’s record their first win of the season as the Saints were well beaten at Bath.

Visiting skipper Jack Cooper elected to field first upon winning the toss and James Hayman (2-29 from 10) helped reduce the hosts to 43-3.

That brought Paul Muchall and Somerset academy prospect Ben Wells to the crease and the pair went on to add 197 for the fourth wicket.

Former Durham and Gloucestershire man Muchall made 89, with Wells making 79 before he was caught from the bowling of Banton (1-84 from seven).

There was no let-up, as Sam Mount struck 51 from 23 balls at the death to take Bath beyond 300 and set an imposing total for the visitors to chase.

The Saints were immediately in trouble at 4-2 as Jake Harnett and Eddie Byrom each fell without scoring, which led to Banton entering the fray at number four.

The in-form Somerset man struck 11 fours and seven sixes in a remarkable innings, which included some audacious scoop shots, before he was seventh man out having made 94 (from 41 balls) of the Saints’ 129.

Number 11 Harry Clements made a quick 20 but the Saints were bowled out for 156 in the 22nd over.

BANTON was at it again on Sunday, this time reaching 50 in just 12 balls as St Andrew’s chased down 93 inside four overs to beat Minehead in a T20 at the Wyvern Club.

The Saints did not advance from the group, however, as Shapwick won the decider by 122 runs after Steve Tinnion’s 131 from 57 balls.

George Thomas took 7-27 for the Saints, including a hat-trick.

WEPL Premier 2 Bristol/Somerset

Taunton Deane 217 beat Winterbourne 163 by 54 runs

FIVE wickets from Matt Derham and a Calvin Harrison half-century helped Taunton Deane continue their winning start to the new season.

After winning the toss, home skipper Sam Shaikh had no hesitation in batting first on a fresh Deane wicket.

When the home side fell to 10-1, 34-2 and then 54-3 that decision may have looked a tad injudicious.

Opener Grant Davey, watching from the other end, was more steadfast and a partnership of 41 between him and Harrison helped move the Deane to 95 before Davey was caught at deep square leg for 41.

The Deane were soon in trouble again as Harry Smith fell for a duck, caught at cover off George Ford (2-41), and then Luke Williams (2) fell to the same bowler.

Drinks were eventually taken with the Deane 105-6, but Shaikh joined Harrison and they added 80 precious runs for the seventh wicket before Harrison scooped James Williams to Ben Slade, who took an excellent one-hand overhead catch.

Will Hardwick joined Shaikh to move the Deane onto a fourth batting point, but with the score on 200, Shaikh (33) was bowled by a George Ford slower ball.

Jason Squire (7) was the last man out as the Deane finished on 217 all out, one ball shy of their 50 overs.

The Winterbourne reply got off to watchful and steady start against the accuracy of Jason Squire from the Golf Course end, while Harry Smith was somewhat erratic from the Vivary Park end.

The introduction of Matt Derham to replace Smith paid immediate dividends as he removed the top three within his first four overs.

Kingsbury added 30 with Ben Slade, but then Derham once again found the edge of the bat and Shaikh snaffled his second catch behind the stumps to leave the visitors 72-4.

The pressure soon told again as Harrison had Darren Vickery (4) plumb lbw from a googly and then a stumping from Sam Shaikh accounted for Harry Blackwell for a patient 30.

Ben Slade (36) kept the visitors in the hunt, but when he was bowled by the excellent Will Hardwick (1-30) and George Ford (30) lofted Luke Williams into the hands of Harry Thomas, the visitors required a further 71 runs at nearly 10 an over.

Derham returned to claim a much deserved five-wicket haul before Harry Smith drew Dylan Caddy into skying to the waiting Harrison, who rounded off a fine all-round performance to take the winning catch.

WEPL Somerset Division

Wellington 132 beat Frome 55 by 77 runs

WELLINGTON are sixth in the table after this resounding home win over Frome on Saturday, writes David Derrick.

Last season’s divisional runners-up were rushed out in just 27 overs.

Arron Campbell opted to bat and saw Sam Whitefield and Neil Hendy put on a solid 52 for the opening wicket as Whitefield made it to 18 before he was bowled by Neil Dredge.

Hendy top scored with 37 (with four fours and a six) before he became one of three victims for Watts (3-27 in 10 overs).

Oli Beale made a good start in making 12 but, from 76-2, Wellington’s score dipped to 110-9 as Dredge claimed two more wickets and Mark Sanger 2-3 in five overs as Frome got to work with the ball.

Aks Latifi, with 19, and Will Derrick (3no) put on 22 for the last wicket to boost the Red & Blacks to 132 all out, with 9.5 of their overs going unused.

Frome never got going in their chase, as Wellington’s new ball pairing of Luke Desave and Jack Beal tore into their top order and had the top three out for just ten runs.

Desave (1-13 in eight overs) and Beal (4-15 in six) laid the foundations for Wellington’s eventual success.

Neil Hendy joined the attack and collected 3-16.

Towards the end, Will Derrick and Sam Whitefield were accurate as Arron Campbell (2-2 in two overs) had the last say by bowling Dredge for 10, to see that his side took 18 points to Frome’s five.

This coming Saturday sees Wellington visit early pace-setters Chard.

WEPL Somerset Division

Chard 177 beat Minehead 99 by 78 runs

MINEHEAD took on table-toppers Chard at home on Saturday, looking to bounce back from a five-wicket defeat to Frome the previous weekend.

On a used pitch, Chard won the toss and decided to bat first, and got off to a bright start due to some lacklustre bowling and fielding in the early stages.

They’d reached 60 for no loss when Chard’s opener Jon Dalwood retired hurt, and the first proper breakthrough came with the score on 83 when the dangerous-looking Reid Mawdsley was bowled by Ian Buchanan (2-31) for 32.

Minehead then turned the poor start around, as Braden Taylor bowled a superb line with the swinging ball to rip through the middle order.

Chard slumped to 133-9, thanks to Taylor taking his maiden five-wicket haul for the 1st XI in his first appearance for them this season.

In the process, he conceded just 26 runs from his allotted 10 overs in what looked like a match-winning bowling performance.

There were also wickets for Dan Bowditch (1-35) and Jack Richards (1-8), but the injured Dalwood returned to the crease and he and Chris Scott looked to form a respectable total.

They took Chard’s score to 177 before Scott was dismissed with the last ball of the innings following some controversy, having survived an earlier scare where he it looked like he was clean bowled by Bowditch, only for the umpire to overturn the decision as the players made their way from the field.

Wicket-keeper Phil Barraclough was accused of knocking the bails off with his gloves.

Chasing a small total, Minehead were in trouble right away and soon found themselves three down inside four overs.

Buchanan (0) and Taylor (0) were adjudged lbw and Freddie Wilson (4) inside edged a ball on to his stumps.

Barraclough and Alastair Harrison looked to rebuild the innings, before another flurry of wickets fell as Barraclough (12) shouldered arms to a ball that nipped back to take his off-stump, then Harrison (12) and Bowditch (1) were caught by fielders on the ring.

At 43-6, the win looked unlikely until Darren Sherring (35) began to find the boundary during his first knock of the season – hitting four boundaries and two towering sixes that put the greenhouses in the gardens of Mallard Road in great danger.

But Chard were relentless and the wickets continued to fall – with Matt Sully (7), Jack Richards (6) and Ellis Taylor (2) also taking the long walk back to the pavilion, leaving the injured Daniel Godfrey 0 not out as Chard put the Pirates out of their misery with a disappointing 99 all out.

MR&MRS SE Man of the Match: Braden Taylor

Taylor’s performance was the highlight for the Pirates, as well as young Jack Richards’ miserly spell of 5-1-8-1, as they’ll look to make amends this weekend at Street CC.