CRICKET: Ben Howe century helps Staplegrove overpower Chard

A FINE century from Ben Howe brought Staplegrove a thumping home victory against Chard on Saturday.

Being put in to bat, Tom and Jo Pantling went after the visiting attack, putting on 62 before Jo fell for 16.

Tom Pantling was then joined by Ben Howe and the pair upped the tempo, mercilessly punishing anything short or off line.

The score rattled up to 134 before Pantling fell for a fine 69, including two 6s and 11 4s.

Undeterred, Howe motored on and reached his century before being last man out for 111, hitting three 6s and 13 4s.

Aaron Nurcombe added 25 useful runs at the end to leave the score on 273-6.

Chard’s bowlers stuck to their task throughout, with Jonathan Scott being the pick, taking 1-31 off 10 overs while the shrapnel flew all around him.

Chard’s reply faltered with only seven runs on the board, Ian Bishop having Rob Glentworth caught by Will Parkman for just four.

Four of Chard’s early order reached double figures but none were able to push on as Matt Dimond, Bishop (1-15 of 10) and Ryan Cleverly in particular stifled any hint of a fightback.

As wickets fell regularly, Scott top scored with 29 as Chard were bowled out for 117.

Main wicket-taker was Dimond with 3-29, while Tom Pantling and Cleverly picked up two apiece.

Staplegrove entertain North Perrott on Saturday (1pm start).

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WEPL Somerset Division
Bridgwater 2nd XI 195-9 beat Wellington 1st XI 192 by one wicket 

WELLINGTON were in a great position to record their first WEPL Somerset Division win of the season last weekend when they had Bridgwater 2nd XI at 134-9, writes David Derrick.

However, needing 61 to win, a storming innings from Bridgwater’s number nine Rossiter, who smashed 62no off 36 balls, and home skipper Higgins, who made a studious 11no, robbed Wellington of victory.

Having chosen to bat first, Kayden Hine and Arron Campbell laid the foundation as they added 29.

Robin Davies made a crisp 30 with six 4s as the Wellington score approached 100.

Hine made 43 in good time before he was third out and this led to a dip in the score to 120-6 but skipper Alex Sparks (34) held firm and added 22 for the ninth wicket with Ian Hewson, who made a solid 15no.

The Wellington score was boosted to 192 all out by a last-wicket stand of 23 from Hewson and Will Derrick (13).

For Bridgwater Clapp, Skidmore and Habberfield each took three wickets as Wellington were dismissed in 44.5 of their 50 overs.

With Luke Desave back fit to bowl Wellington roared into action, reducing Bridgwater to 24-4 as the vice-captain, in tandem with Hewson (2-17 in 10), tore out the top order.

Skidmore and Witts steadied matters with knocks of 33 and 32, but Neil Hendy and Arron Campbell got to work and split them up with the score at 90-5.

Bridgwater limped on and, at 134-9, needed to climb a mountain to win.

But they got over the line with two balls to spare, to take 18 points to Wellington’s seven, due to their sensational last-wicket stand.

On Saturday, Wellington face another tough encounter when they entertain third-placed North Petherton (1pm start).

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

MINEHEAD 1sts continued their woeful start to the season with a nine-wicket loss away to North Petherton on Saturday, writes Dan Bowditch.

Captain Andrew Stevens somehow managed to lose his fourth consecutive toss and was asked to bat for the fourth game in four.

He and Ian Buchanan started conservatively against the accurate bowling of Paul van Meekeren (1-22) and South African overseas player Brad Porteous (4-24).

They had seen off the new ball and were looking to capitalise on some looser deliveries before Buchanan was adjudged lbw for 15.

Brad Martin looked to force the issue as he quickly found his timing with a flurry of boundaries through the off side, before miscuing a drive to cover for 21.

This signalled the start of a collapse as Stevens was clean bowled for 32 and Minehead’s middle and lower order all failed to make double figures, meaning that their score tumbled from 60-2 to 118 all out.

With a severely below par total on the board, the visitors needed quick wickets early on, but Pethy openers Lewis Irish and Tom Williams had other ideas as they took the attack to both Ellis Taylor (0-41) and Jack Sully (1-16).

They had decimated nearly half the total when Irish was caught off a full toss from the bowling of Sully for 22, but new bat Porteous (44no) continued the scoring as he and Williams (47no) took their team over the line in just 20.2 overs to gain maximum points from the game.

Minehead now lie eighth after three successive defeats, and they host seventh-placed Temple Cloud on Saturday in a game which both teams can scarcely afford to lose, even so early in the season.