CRICKET: North Petherton, Shapwick & Polden and Wembdon all beaten

WEMBDON made the long trip to Frome with just one point separating the two sides going into the match, but ultimately the hosts ran out comfortable winners.

Frome won the toss, elected to bat and a flurry of early boundaries from openers Robin Lett and Paul Sanger saw them reach 18 from four overs.

Matt Hubbard and Jon Brockwell worked hard to find the right lengths, backed up by some excellent fielding, and managed to halt Frome in their tracks, with seven of the next 14 overs being maidens.

Wembdon had to wait until the 12th over for the breakthrough; Hubbard bowled 18 consecutive balls without Frome scoring and both the pressure and frustration combined to trap Sanger (12) lbw.

Brockwell had Lett (13) caught off the next ball and then claimed the scalp of the dangerous Reece Croker (8), as Frome slumped to 45-3 off 20 overs.

Nkululeko Serame extracted some extravagant turn but the 11 middle overs went by without a wicket, and so Mike Watts and leg-spinner Tom Lott were introduced.

Lott bowled Andy Veal (39) and went on to take 2-25 from nine overs, while Watts took four at the death to finish with 4-43 from 10.

Frome closed on 167-9 from their 50 overs.

Wembdon should have been confident of chasing down that score, but Frome have some fiery bowlers and Reece Croker bowled Lott (1) early on.

Dan Bingham and Serame then took Wembdon past 10 overs without another loss but Croker then removed Serame for 13.

Brockwell (5) was next out, caught in the deep to leave the total at 39-3.

Bingham (17) then fell to Tom Barton before a recovery was on the cards, as Liam Pigden and Sam Puddy added 22 for the fifth wicket, but Pigden went for 16.

Puddy (18) was out to Neil Dredge’s unplayable delivery and the final four wickets were lost for just 16 runs as Croker (4-19 off 9.1 overs) returned to wrap up the tail.

Four players made starts but failed to make a score of note, while Dredge claimed 3-7 off just three overs late on.

Match sponsors: Wembdon Home from Home Dog Boarding & Tyler Fagan.

Wembdon – who now have two wins and two losses in the league so far this season – will need to bounce back this coming Saturday, when they make the short trip across town to take on Bridgwater 2nd XI at The Parks.

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WEPL Premier 2 Bristol/Somerset
Taunton Deane 236 beat Shapwick & Polden 212 by 24 runs

A LATE collapse brought about this defeat at home to the Deane on Saturday as Shapwick’s winless start continued.

Electing to bat first, the Deane lost wickets regularly in the face of Nayan Karmarker (4-44) and Oskar White (3-61).

However, a fine 54 from Jamie Stephens took the Deane to a respectable total of 236.

Josh Luckins bowled well throughout, taking 2-35 off his 10 overs.

Shapwick’s reply began badly, losing James Venkatrao to Rob Pryke without scoring but Sam Edmunds (21) and Stephen Tinnion (19) steadied the ship before Pryke struck again.

This brought Wayne Spencer to the wicket and he set about building a potential match-winning innings.

Partners came and went, with Will Mason adding 20 and White 16, but the reintroduction of Jason Squire and Matt Derham put paid to Spencer for a fine 75 and Shapwick’s hopes as they fell well short of their target.

On Saturday, Shapwick travel to Gloucestershire to play Winterbourne.

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WEPL Somerset Division
Yeovil 115-4 beat North Petherton 113 by 6 wkts

PETHY remain bottom of the league after this spectacular batting collapse at home to third-from-bottom Yeovil.

Batting first, openers Harry Bowditch (26) and Lewis Knight (45) looked to have set up Pethy for a big score as they passed the half-century mark.

However, the introduction of Ben Ford (6-28 off 8) and Mark Mitchell (3-3 off 4) saw Pethy tumble from 69-0 to 113 all out as 6no was the next highest score and Extras amounted to 23.

The home bowlers had little to defend as Calum Gundry (29) and Steve Redwood (14) put on 55 for the first wicket.

Jack Fuller added 23 to consolidate Yeovil’s position and although Liam Winter took 2-3 and Ali Zaryab Asif 1-16 off 7 tidy overs, they were token wickets as Ford added 29no to his bowling tally as Yeovil cruised home.

Saturday’s match at fellow strugglers Minehead could already be a relegation tussle as both sides battle to find their form before they are cut off from the rest of the pack.