West of England Premier League
Premier 2 Bristol/Somerset
Taunton Deane 184-9 beat Ilminster 181-6 by 1 wkt

ILMINSTER were unable to get their 2019 WEPL season off to a winning start, as Taunton Deane claimed a down-to-the-wire victory at the Rec on Saturday.

The visitors won the toss, elected to field and were soon celebrating the wicket of Jonny Warry (0).

Louis Kraucamp (32) and Charlie Vickery (24) put together a solid second-wicket partnership, and there were also solid contributions from captain Sam Spurway (32) and Keelan Ashby (26).

Rob Woodman (2-41) removed the latter two, however, and with no really big scores from the home batsmen they reached 181-6 from their 50 overs.

Despite the early loss of Sam Loud, lbw to Harry Montacute (1-34 off 9.2), the Deane looked to be going well with Woodman (39) and Tenessee Harlow (53).

But James Thompson (2-41 off 10) removed the former, and Sam Grinter (4-40 off 10) the latter, to put the game back in the balance.

The visitors’ middle order struggled, with Grinter at the forefront of the Ilminster attack, and approaching the final overs it really was anyone’s game.

But then number nine Rob Pryke stepped up with three fours in an unbeaten 19, taking his side over the line with 1.4 overs and one wicket to spare.

Ilminster’s Craig Rice said: “[Losing] the toss may have been a little bit of a factor, as the pitch got a bit easier as the game went on.

“We had a few half-decent partnerships, but no-one went on to a big score, and we were probably 20 runs short of where we should have been.

“It was a relatively low total, but we showed good fighting spirit and character to run them so close.

“Our young seamer Sam Grinter bowled well, our spinners did OK, so we’re happy with how our batting unit performed.”

This coming Saturday sees Ilminster travel to South Gloucestershire-based Winterbourne (12.30pm), who won at Keynsham last Saturday and who boast Gloucestershire batsman James Bracey in their squad.

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WEPL Premier 2 Bristol/Som
North Perrott 211-8 beat Weston-super-Mare 158 by 53 runs

NORTH Perrott made a winning start to life in WEPL Premier 2 Bristol/Somerset, after winning promotion last season, as Gordon Whorlow claimed a five-fer at Weston-super-Mare on Saturday.

Put in to bat, the visitors got off an an unsteady start, losing Whorlow (4) and Alex Eckland (13) to slip to 37-2.

Matthew Pardoe (28) and Jack Henderson (36) rebuilt, but the score of the day came from skipper Jake Symes (64no).

With George Retter (16), Sam Rowswell (19) and Josh Marshall-James (16) adding quick-fire runs lower down, Perrott finished their 50 overs on 211-8.

Weston’s reply got off to a poor start, Scott Harris gone for a duck, and soon it was 22-2.

Shabil Ahmed (42) looked to eat into the lead, and although he was trapped lbw by Pardoe (2-26), Will Plummer (26) and Will Whitell (29) had the game back in the balance as they passed 100.

Enter Whorlow. He left the hosts in a spin, claiming 5-25 from 6.3 overs as the opposition crashed from 119-4 to 158 all out.

Perrott play their first home match of this season this coming Saturday, with Bishopston the visitors to Willis Lane for a 12.30pm start.