WEPL Premier 1
Potterne 115-0 beat Taunton St Andrew’s 111 by 10 wkts

A NIGHTMARE start with the bat cost Taunton St Andrew’s as they slipped to their second Premier 1 defeat of the season on Saturday.

Visiting Potterne won the toss at the Wvyern Club, inserted their in-form hosts and promptly reduced them to 7-5.

Openers Tom Banton and Rob Contreras both departed without troubling the scorers, and captain James Regan made four before he was caught.

Lloyd Alley’s duck made it 5-4 and, to make matters worse, Kyle Hopper was then run out without scoring.

From that position the Saints were up against it just to post some sort of score, but Jack Cooper and JJ Poole led a recovery of sorts.

Both played patiently as they rebuilt the wreckage, adding 61 for the sixth wicket before Cooper was caught for a 64-ball 33.

Poole followed shortly afterwards for 15 and only a late cameo from James Hayman took the Saints past 100, the number nine striking two sixes in his 25.

Hayman was the last wicket to fall as the hosts were bowled out for 111, which proved to be a breeze for the visitors.

Forced to set attacking fields in the search for wickets, the Saints left their bowlers little room for error and opening batsmen Ashur Morrison and Basil Akram capitalised.

Despite the hosts rotating bowlers at will - seven were used in all - a breakthrough was not forthcoming and Potterne needed just 13.2 overs to wrap up their victory.

Morrison fired four sixes in his unbeaten 54, with Akram adding 46 not out from 39 deliveries.

St Andrew’s are still handily placed in third but face a tricky looking trip to Bristol on Saturday.

Reflecting on his side’s display, Saints skipper James Regan said: “It didn’t go at all to plan and you are never going to win games of cricket when you lose your first four wickets for five runs.

“I think it was a good batting wicket - we chose to bat on winning the toss - but we just didn’t apply ourselves. 

“I was culpable of that, as were a few others - quite a few of us can look back and be disappointed with our dismissals.

“Looking at the positives, Jack Cooper and JJ Poole batted well to get us to some form of total.

“They were a good side and will win plenty of games this season but we didn’t do ourselves justice. 

Looking ahead to Saturday’s challenge, the wicketkeeper-batsman added: “Bristol will be another tough game - Gloucestershire don’t have a Championship game so they will be able to call on several First Class cricketers.”

WEPL Premier 2 Bristol/Somerset
Shapwick & Polden 277-8 beat Taunton 235 by 42 runs

TAUNTON remain without a win this season after they were beaten at home by Shapwick & Polden on Saturday.

The visitors chose to make first use of a good batting wicket upon winning the toss and captain Stephen Tinnion announced his intent by hitting each of the opening three balls of the match for four.

Tinnion and Wayne Spencer (27) added 81 for the first wicket before Oliver O’Livey (2-69) removed the latter, but Tinnion continued on to 83 at which point he was run out.

John Stratton continued from where his skipper had left off, finishing unbeaten on 96 while James Clark (2-52) ensured wickets fell at the other end.

Stratton’s knock helped Shapwick finish on 277-8 from their 50 overs, but Taunton made a solid start in reply.

The returning Charles Clist (33) and Simon Manley (25) put on 63 before both fell in quick succession to the spin of Spencer, but Alex Sparks and Dan Quick continued the hosts’ momentum.

It took the extra pace of opening bowler Sean Stringer to make the difference on his return to the attack, as he trapped Quick lbw for 39 before claiming the key wicket of Sparks (51), who nicked a slower ball behind.

Stringer then accounted for Will Abell (6), Hugh Kelly (0) and Rob Hake (0) as he finished with 5-46 from nine overs, a match-winning spell.

James Clark struck 34 from number nine, but his was the last wicket to fall as Taunton were dismissed for 235, 42 runs shy of Shapwick’s total.

On Saturday, Taunton travel to Bishopston looking to get off the mark for the season.

WEPL Somerset
Bridgwater 2nds 166-5 beat Staplegrove 163 by 5 wkts

STAPLEGROVE slipped to a five-wicket defeat at Bridgwater 2nds despite a fine knock by captain Ian Bishop.

The visitors batted first and accumulated steadily after the early loss of Richard Rowe without scoring.

Henry Graydon chipped in with 28 and Bishop held the innings together as wickets began to fall steadily, Tom Bellinger taking 3-21.

Bishop was the ninth man out having made an excellent 81 as Staplegrove were bowled out for 163.

In reply, Miles Quick picked up the early wicket of Bellinger but Todd Barrett (55) and Jonathan Vickery (46) steadied the ship.

Peter Horton took 2-21 for Grove but Bridgwater were always in control and got home with just under 12 overs to spare.

On Saturday, Staplegrove host Frome.

WEPL Somerset
Minehead 106-3 beat Uphill Castle 105 by 7 wkts

MINEHEAD 1st XI recorded their fifth straight victory with a comfortable seven-wicket win over Uphill Castle on Saturday.

Winning the toss and deciding to bowl transpired to be a wise decision for Minehead as Ellis Taylor removed opener Sam Frost for four in the first over of the innings.

He struck again shortly after, dismissing Uphill captain Andy Llewellyn (3) before Steve Hayes (3-21) joined the action with two wickets of his own to leave the hosts wavering at 19-4.

Opener Dayne Siede offered the only real resistance but he continued to lose partners at regular intervals before eventually falling himself for a gutsy 48, at 96-8. 

Darren Sherring helped himself to 3-23 runs before Taylor returned to claim the last two and record impressive figures of 4-23 and see the Uphill innings come to a close on 105.

In reply, Freddie Wilson wasted no time in eating into the small target as he took 20 runs from two overs and Ian Buchanan helped himself to a maximum of his own before falling for nine.

George Cox (1-25) was rewarded for his patience when he had Wilson caught at square leg for 27 with the score at 39-2.

Sean Mosquera continued the onslaught however as he helped himself to seven fours before being caught at deep mid-wicket for 35.

Dan Bowditch (6*) and Alastair Harrison (7*) completed the chase with no further drama as Minehead recorded a seven-wicket win in just 21.1 overs.

They sit second in the table and host struggling Yeovil this Saturday.