West of England Premier League
Somerset Division
Chard 1st XI 250-6 beat Wellington 1st XI 233 all out by 17 runs

MATTHEW Micale was the Chard hero at Wellington, as his 109 proved the difference in a 17-run win that moved the visitors up to seventh in the WEPL Somerset Division.

There were also four wickets for Pete Moxom and three for Jon Dalwood in a fine all-round display.

Chard won the toss and opted to bat, only to lose opener Nathan Johnson for a duck.

Captain Scott Wells-Burr was joined at the crease by Micale, who was just warming up when his skipper departed for 14 – the first of four victims for Wellington bowler Ian Hewson.

Moxom came in at 27-2, and his 19 helped Chard reach 81 before he was stumped off N. Hendy.

That brought Jonathan Scott into the fray, and with him and Micale in the middle the visitors were really cooking with gas now.

Micale’s 109 (14 fours) off 125 balls and Scott’s 77 (10 fours) off 97 balls sent the Chard total sky-rocketing.

They had reached 214 when Micale finally departed, bowled by Hewson, and Scott added another 25 after that before falling lbw to the same bowler.

The lower order added vital late runs to take Chard onto 250-6 from their 50 overs.

Wellington’s reply reached 33 before Aaron Campbell was caught behind by Nathan Warren off Richard Scott’s bowling.

Kayden Hine (30) and R. Davies (49) ate into Chard’s lead, before a vital intervention from Dalwood – Hine stumped and Davies caught by Moxom off the bowler, as Wellington slipped from 96-1 to 99-3.

T. Trott (43) and Mark Bray (26) swung it back in the hosts’ favour, before being dismissed by Moxom and Dalwood, respectively.

That left Wellington on 186-5, with the game in the balance.

Harvey Dening removed A. Latifi (3), before Moxom really came into his own with three game-winning wickets.

He removed captain Luke Desave (22), Hendy (4) and Dom Drew (12), and when Hewson (10) was run out by Dening it was game over, all out in 48.5 overs.

Moxom ended with figures of 4-61 and Dalwood 3-27.

Chard collected 20 points to sit seventh in the table, ahead of Wellington, Temple Cloud and bottom side Minehead.

This Saturday they host second-placed Weston-super-Mare (1pm).

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WEPL Somerset Division
North Perrott 1st XI 190-6 beat Bridgwater 2nd XI 186-9 by 4 wkts

SKIPPER Gordon Whorlow starred with an unbeaten 99 as North Perrott shook off a stuttering start to their run chase and claimed a seventh straight Somerset Division win.

Whorlow and wicketkeeper Josh Giddings combined to rescue the hosts from 72-6, as they passed Bridgwater 2nds’ 186-9 with two balls to spare.

Bridgwater won the toss and batted first, but they were 7-1 when Tom Bellinger was bowled by Stacy Hawes.

Jonathan Vickery (5) was caught by Whorlow off Joshua Marshall-James, leaving the visitors on 28-2, but Liam Kitch (38) and John Hill (37) hit back hard.

Kitch was caught by Nick Taylor off Whorlow at 61-3, and after Lorraine Szczepanski had Alastair Witts (17) caught behind, it was time for Troy Johnson to take over.

Bridgwater fell from 120-4 to 130-7 as Johnson dismissed Ed Habberfield (16), Archie Marsh (1) and finally Hill.

Scott Clapp (35no) and Matt Habberfield (17) resisted well, but after Johnson removed Habberfield (caught by Taylor) and Richard Eckley (1) was run out (again, by Taylor), the away side finished their allotted 50 overs on 186-9.

Johnson took 4-42 for the hosts, with the other wickets evenly spread among their bowlers.

The target hardly looked the most imposing for Perrott... until Whorlow watched his batting partners cave to the Bridgwater bowling attack.

George Retter (5), Johnson (1) and Jake Symes (4) fell to Clapp and Ian Higgins, leaving the home side in serious peril at 18-3.

Whorlow and Taylor (14) steadied the ship, but after Ed Habberfield bowled Taylor, Perrott slipped from 66-3 to 72-6.

Enter Giddings, the partner Whorlow both needed and deserved.

He hit 44no (four 4s) off 83 balls, proving the perfect foil to his captain, whose 99no (15 fours and a six) came off 128 deliveries.

Bridgwater could find no further chinks in the armour, and the Perrott pair made it 190-6 to win with just two balls left.

The hosts picked up 19 points, and their seventh win from seven league games sees them eight points clear of Weston-super-Mare at the top of the table.

This Saturday Perrott are at Temple Cloud (1pm start), their opponents having lost their last five.