Taunton St Andrew's cruise past Taunton Deane in WEPL Premier 2

TAUNTON Deane failed to recover from losing early wickets when they travelled to The Wyvern Club on Saturday.

With skipper Russell Jones electing to bat first, James Hayman claimed both the Deane openers early on with Calvin Harrison falling for six and Jack Fraser for eight.

Henry Mellor set about repairing the damage but he lost both Ali Warren and Harry Smith to Deven Bell as the Deane looked to be slipping to a sub-100 score.

Jones came in to join Mellor but he fell to a smart catch by Kevin Parsons off Joe Wadham for 27.

William Hardwick was the next to go without scoring but that sparked something of a revival as the tail end stood firm.

Jones departed for 21 but Rob Pryke found allies in Jason Squire and Tom Walsh.

Pryke made a very useful joint top score 27.

With 10 overs still remaining, the Deane innings closed as Squire fell to Joe Wadham for 14.

Wadham was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3-21 off 110 but there were also three wickets for Deven Bell and two for Luke Poole and James Hayman.

Despite the late fightback it was unlikely to be enough against the Saints’ experienced batting line-up.

And so it proved.

With opener James Regan in imperious form, the Saints  made light work of reaching the target as Jason Squire and William Hardwick toiled away.

It was all over in 21 overs as skipper Regan continued his imposing early season form to remain unbeaten on 76, while fellow opener Ed Byrom scored 16 and Michael Leask chipped in with 21.

Squire and Harrison took consolation wickets for the Deane, who claimed just two points from the encounter to Saints’ 19.

WEPL Premier Two
Taunton 186 beat Keynsham 182-8 by 4 runs

TAUNTON chalked up their second win of the season when they beat Keynsham away - but it was a close-run thing.

On an overcast day, skipper Ben Phillips lost the toss and Taunton were asked to bat. 

Openers Simon Manley and Tom Abell strode out to face some testing conditions.

It was another disappointing day for Abell who fell early on lbw for three and Jack Cooper and Manley saw the visitors on to 49 off 16 when the latter was out trying to step up the rate.

Dan Quick joined Cooper and both looked comfortable but, with the score on 93, Cooper fell for 26. 

Wickets then fell at regular intervals and Taunton found themselves 166-9 with three overs remaining.

James Hayes and James Breakwell at the crease, who both played sensibly to take Taunton to a useful 186 on a sticky wicket.

Cooper and Abell opened the bowling and were quickly into their stride, reducing Keynsham to be 12-3 after eight overs. 

Blake Coburn was then introduced and struck immediately and soon Keynsham were struggling on 50-5 after 22 overs.

However, a useful partnership saw the hosts to 138-5 before Coburn, who ended with 3-26, returned with Manley to apply the pressure again.

Keynsham kept up with the required rate and needed just 23 off four overs for victory. 

By the time the last over was due, nine were required by Keynsham’s eighth wicket pair.

Manley bowled a superb over and six were needed off the last ball, which Keynsham batsman Sam Wheller went for but was well caught at long-on by skipper Ben Phillips to give Taunton victory by four runs.

The Cooper Associates man of the match, for the second week running, was Blake Coburn.