Taunton now sit 56 points adrift of safety in Premier 1 with three games to play after picking up a losing draw against Bath at Gipsy Lane.

Taunton won the toss and elected to bowl on Saturday and got an early reward as Matt Bulbeck opened the bowling at full throttle.

He had the first wicket down for 17 and the second for 46 before claiming the scalp of Robin Lett for 36. bulbeck also claimed the fourth wicket with Bath’s score on 110 before Alasdair Easton, 2-31, got in on the action.

Ben Orr, 2-19, then claimed the next two wickets but that was when Bath started a fightback. Adam kelly, batting at nine, hit 38 before eventually falling for 38 and the last two men in stayed unbeaten on 48 and 17 respectively, allowing Bath to post 253-9.

Taunton found themselves 54-2 in reply, but a partnership worth 76 between Jack Cooper, 84, and Chris Gange, 41, saw the home side get the scoreboard ticking over.

Once that pair were removed Taunbton struggled to find runs but were resilient, most of the lower order spending significant amounts of time at the wicket for their scores.

By the end of the allocated overs Taunton were still hanging on, nine down and well behind, but good enough for a losing draw.