West of England Premier Cricket League
Premier 2 Bristol/Somerset
Lansdown 57-4 beat Ilminster 56 by 6 wkts

ILMINSTER were humbled away to second-bottom Lansdown on Saturday, as they were all out for 56 and lost by six wickets.

Lansdown won the toss and elected to field, and had George Hayward out for a golden duck.

Charlie Vickery (6) and Jon Hurford (5) both fell with the score on 11, and none of the middle order made more than five as the visitors collapsed to 32-7.

James Thompson provided some resistance, scoring two 4s on his way to 11, but after he fell at 52-9 Ilminster could only add four more runs before being dismissed in 31.5 overs.

Josh Smith took 4-12 off nine overs and Harry Veal 3-16 off 10 for Lansdown.

Ilminster made a decent start in the field, with Sam Grinter removing Josh Smith (9) and Kofi James (2) to leave the hosts 20-2.

But Jordan Smith scored 23 off 28 balls to bring the target within reach, and although he and Jordan Price (9) fell to James Thompson, Sam Athey (7no) secured the win in just 11.2 overs.

Grinter ended with 2-28 off four overs and Thompson 2-4 off two.

Ilminster picked up two points and although they stay in fourth, they are just 18 points ahead of eighth.

This Saturday (12.30pm) Ilminster host bottom side Claverham (Yatton).

***

WEPL Somerset Division
Wembdon 85 beat Chard 82 by 3 runs

CHARD 1st XI hosted Wembdon on Saturday, and lost out in a low-scoring but thrilling fixture.

With a soft, green surface, Chard won the toss and put Wembdon in to bat.

Dan Bingham and Tom Brooks opened up the innings and survived the first five overs until Brooks was trapped lbw by Alex Hunt.

Will Anning joining Bingham for 12 overs, scoring a hard-fought 22 runs until the spin of Chris Scott and Jon Dalwood got the breakthrough.

Anning went for seven from 41 deliveries as Wembdon reached 34-2, but a flurry of wickets followed, all to spin.

Wembdon’s middle order surrendered to Chris Scott (4-14 off 10 overs), but Bingham remained, scoring 30 off 96 balls, until being trapped lbw by Pete Moxon, leaving Wembdon on 65-6.

Ed Howes (10) struck a couple of late boundaries but Moxom (4-16 off five) tidied up the tail, and Aaron Rees (7) was run out in the 43rd over as Wembdon were dismissed for 85.

It was a low score for Chard to aim for, but the pitch was still tricky, and the spin of Josh Henry trapped Nathan Johnson (0) lbw in his first over.

Matt Micale also went for a duck, also lbw, to Bingham in the next over, to leave Chard on 5-2 from three overs.

Jon Dalwood (13) and Moxom (22) stayed together for the next nine overs and took the total onto 36.

But Henry removed both, Dan Buller (2-10 off 10 overs) then took two wickets, and Henry (5-27 off 10) claimed two more off the last two balls of his spell, as Chard slid from 36-2 to 51-8, losing six wickets for 15 runs in nine overs.

Needing 37 more runs and with two wickets in hand, Jonathan Scott batted with great determination for 50 balls, scoring 19 to take the hosts onto 80.

Wembdon introduced Ed Howes and Max Sellick, the latter removing Scott, only for Richard Scott (3) to nudge Chard closer to the win.

But going for two runs he was run out by 14-year-old Dan James-Stone, giving Wembdon the victory by three runs.

Chard, now third from bottom in the table, visit fourth-from-bottom Minehead on Saturday (12.30pm start).

***

Chard & Ilminster News:

BIG SCORE: George Retter made 79 as North Perrott defeated Staplegrove. Pic: Adrian Hopper

WEPL Somerset Division
North Perrott 269-7 beat Staplegrove 226-6 by 43 runs

NORTH Perrott kept in touch with Somerset Division leaders Weston-super-Mare thanks to victory in a rain-affected match with Staplegrove.

Hosts Perrott won the toss and chose to bat, reaching 16 before Gordon Whorlow (12) fell to Ian Masters.

George Retter was joined at the crease by Troy Johnson, and together they put on 200 runs.

Retter eventually fell for 79 (off 65 balls, with nine 4s and a 6), but Johnson stuck around for a while longer, eventually departing for 112 (off 83 balls, with 16 fours) at 229-3.

The runs kept coming though, with Alex Eckland adding 13 and Nick Taylor 13no as the home side ended on 269-7.

For Grove, Masters took 3-36 off 5.5 overs and Ryan Cleverly 3-61 off eight.

With the game reduced to 41 overs due to rain, the visitors shrugged off the early loss of Jake Pantling (8), as Brendan Craggs (64) and Ian Bishop (66) took the game to the bowlers.

The middle order kept the runs coming, but they were always going to struggle to match Retter and Johnson’s exploits, and Eckland claimed 3-38 off eight to help restrict Grove to 226-6, giving the hosts a 43-run win and 20 points.

Stacy Hawes, Lorraine Szczepanski and Whorlow took a wicket apiece.

Perrott remain 21 points off leaders Weston, and this Saturday they host North Petherton (12.30pm).