WEPL Premier One

Bridgwater 228-5 beat Bath 225-9 by five wickets

BRIDGWATER made it two wins from two with a commanding victory over Bath at the Parks on Saturday.

After Bridgwater skipper Merv Hallaran had asked the visitors to bat, Bridgwater openers Liam Redrup (0-44) and Chris Skidmore (1-41) began well without any reward.

The dangerous Tim Rouse (56) looked in good touch after being given a life early on, but fell to the off-spin of Steve Davis (2-41) with the score at 99-1. Alex Frick (2-34) continued on from where he left off last week, removing both Benton (34) and Hay (13) in an impressive spell.

Bridgwater continued to apply the pressure to the visitors and the introduction of Chris Singleton (3-34) saw the left-armer rip through the Bath middle order with three wickets in one over.

The home side closed out the innings superbly despite the resistance of Jenkins - who was brilliantly run out for 58 by Davis - as Bath reached 225-9 in their 50 allotted overs.

Bridgwater’s reply did not get off to the best of starts as they lost Hallaran for one in the first over, but Hose (29) and Bartlett built a solid foundation for the chase.

Hose was dismissed by Tim Dean for 29 with the score at 58-2. However, this brought Chris Gange to the crease to form what would go on to be a match winning partnership for Bridgwater.

Bartlett took the attack to the visitors’ bowlers in a fantastic knock of 92 which included eight fours and five sixes and he was ably supported by Gange (78no) who mixed solid defence with calculated aggression. Bartlett eventually fell to the returning Kelly (3-30) with Bridgwater only 17 runs from victory.

Bridgwater lost two more wickets before Gange dispatched the ball to the cover boundary for the winnings runs with Bridgwater winning by five wickets in a great team performance.