Greg brought Hay game with his 126
A true captain’s innings of 126 from Greg Hay provided the platform for Bath as they beat Taunton St Andrews A by 26 runs to remain third in the Premier One table.
Having elected to bat first, Hay and George Hankins put on an opening stand of 44 before the latter was removed by Lloyd Alley, caught by Alex Millard. Hay had reached his half-century by the time Tim Rouse was gone for 22 as Bath stuttered slightly from 99-2 to 112-4.
Sam Young helped steady the ship with Hay, moving onto 147, before he was run out. Hay then passed his century before Paul Muchall (21) was removed and Bath got to 220-7 when Hay was finally bowled by pick of the bowlers Joe Wadham (3-30) for 123 off 136 balls. Luke Padgett (21) and Harry Hankins (12) helped get Bath to 251-9 from their full complement of overs.
St Andrews’ reply stuttered for long periods as Muchall (2-24) removed both openers for 42 and the Taunton side had only made 79 by the time Harry Hankins (2-50) had removed Ed Byrom and Lloyd Alley. 79-4 became 97-7 as Thomas Hankins (2-26) removed Deven Bell for 20, caught by Ben Wells, who also held on to see JJ Poole return to the pavilion on six off George Hankins’ bowling (2-36).
With the regular falling of wickets, St Andrews were never in touch with the run rate, but a ninth wicket stand of 63 saw Justin Burke (60no) and Luke Poole (27no) bat through until the end, falling 26 runs short on 225-8.
■ PREMIER 2 leaders Lansdown had the week off, but bottom side Keynsham suffered a seven wicket defeat to second bottom Taunton. After being inserted, Lewis Townsend (35) and Tom Bancroft (20) made a steady start before Paul Robbins was run out for a duck. Captain Jarman led from the front and was the mainstay of the innings, hitting an unbeaten 80, which was able supported by Reg Keates (45no) as Keynsham ended on 235-4.
Opener Ben Phillips proved to be the thorn in Keynsham’s side though as he hit an unbeaten 127 to score over half of the required runs. Fellow opener Simon Manley hit 29 before Reg Keates (2-41) had him caught by Sam Wheller, who then bowled Oliver O’livey for a duck (1-78). When Dan Quick was stumped for six, off Keates’ bowling, Keynsham may have had a sniff, but George Cook came in at five and produced an unbeaten 63 to see Taunton over the line in 34.2 overs, for the loss of just three wickets.
■ In the other division, Corsham won by a ton against second bottom local rivals Trowbridge. Wicketkeeper Charley Reed was dismissed for just four when Corsham were inserted, which then became 15-2 when Sam Collier departed for the same number. Opener Adam Mitchell (31) and Tom Smith (28) steadied the innings to 64-3 before the latter was caught and bowled by Scott Mitchell (2-59). Tom Abbott came in at five and turned out to be the mainstay, hitting an unbeaten 87, as Adam Mitchell and Andy Davis (22) fell around him.
Simon Crampton emerged at seven was able to hit a half century in just 41 balls to push Corsham further as they ended up one shy of 300 from their 50 overs. Harry Veal (3-43) proved the pick of Trowbridge’s bowlers. Following a solid start from Tom Oakley (72) and Rhys Evans (23), Trowbridge fell from 72-1 to 106-4 as Richard Foley (4-34) and Tom Smith (4-31) began to make inroads. Veal (37) and Oliver Weaver (23) provided some resistance, but the tail order flopped from 172-6 to 199 all out.
■ WILTS - Corsham’s second XI also had a local derby against Chippenham, but fell to a Nelson 111 score to the league’s second placers. Corsham elected to field and that would prove costly as Chippenham opener Ralph Hardwick (33) and Aaron Merryweather (13) made a decent start, before Chris Munden and Adeesha Nanayakkara put on 137 for the third wicket stand. Craig Chaplin (4-61) finally accounted for both Munden (84) and Nanayakkara (76), as well as Paul Bates (0) and captain Steve Silk (26), as Chippenham declared on 287-7 to gain two extra batting points.
Ed Vickey (4) and Matt Unwin (18) fell cheaply in Corsham’s reply and Michael Myatt and Liam Sumsion were both removed for ducks as they struggled to 28-4. Wicketkeeper Gabriel Field managed a fine 60 to steady the innings somewhat, assisted by Mark Hick (25), but when they were both removed at 140-7 the writing was very much on the wall. Only captain Ned Jones managed doubled figures from the final five batsmen as Corsham were skittled out for 176.
■ Third placed Marshfield kept in touch with Chippenham by recording a 108-run victory over Royal Wootton Bassett. After being inserted, Marshfield lost Patrick Grieshaber for 18 before Callum Burnstone (43) and Jeremy Bond (73) put on 40 for the second wicket. Captain James Williams came in at five and produced 46, but when William Pascall and Cameron Walker were both dismissed for ducks Marshfield decided to declare on 209-8 to gain two extra batting points.
Extras proved to be Wootton’s biggest scorer in reply, the only tally to total more than 20. Lachlan Tyler (3-14) began miserly by removing both Sam Lawro and captain Darren Beasant for two runs apiece. Bassett were then struggling on 54-4 before Jack Paish offered the most resistance, hitting 15 before being caught by James Williams off the bowling of Matt Cox (2-31). Bond (3-13) just edged it to be the pick fo the bowlers, with Tom Clist (1-9) and Walker (1-23) also getting a hand in the wickets. Bassett were bowled out for 101.
■ BRIS/NORTH SOM - Third placed Bath 2nd faced second bottom Claverham, with the score going with the form card as the seconds ran out seven wicket winners. Claverham chose to bat with openers Richard Horton (13) and Matthew Davis (21) putting on a steady start. Monty Keith (3-39) then got his teeth into the top order with the wicket of Horton and then Lloyd Richardson (4) and Michael Edmunds (6).
Jon Watts made the biggest contribution for Claverham with 66 and Adam Hadfield made 34 as Claverham made it to 173 before being bowled out. Joe Prescott (2-17), Louis Brown (2-51), James Arney (1-21) and Jack Scrivens (1-8) were among the wickets.
In reply, opener Alain Hewitt began with 20 before the mid-order produced long staying performances to get them over the line with seven wickets in hand. Scrivens (70) top scored at three with wicketkeeper captain Ben Ackland (54) and Brown (22) finishing unbeaten,
■ TIMSBURY - Following an early start to tie in with England’s World Cup quarter final, a nine wicket victory for Timsbury against Shirehampton ended up being over before the kick-off. Shirehampton never recovered from 23-4 and opener Palmer (34) provided more than half of their 66 runs. Sam Hoddinott recorded a season’s best 5-38, Arran Stewart took 3-21 and Kev Sibley mopped up with 2-3.
Despite failing to chase 67 last month against Frenchay, Mark Sage led the Timsbury riposte with a rapid 45 not out to help them reach their target in just eight overs. ■ The second side returned to winning ways with a four-wicket victory over Thornbury 3rd. Neil Hulford took 4-30 during Thornbury’s 186-9 and then hit an undefeated 28, alongside skipper Ben Hosford (30no) to steer them over the line. Andy Carter followed up his 2-21 with a valuable knock of 40 and Neil Hucker weighed in with 35.
■ Timsbury thirds were by 57 runs away to Bedminster 5th in Division 14, despite Matt Ball (77), Will Rawling (38no) and skipper Ashley Davis (20) making good knocks.
This week Timsbury entertain Pak Bristolians, the seconds travel to their Hambrook counterparts and the thirds host Thornbury 4th. ■ HAMPSET - A depleted first team travelled to Frampton Cottrell and elected to bat. Boundaries came regularly as Hill made all 30 of his runs via the rope. A great partnership between Williams (83) and Prentice (35) put Hampset in a strong position until they both fell to consecutive deliveries. C Mcdonald (27) pushed Hampset to 223-9.
A wicket from T Marquis was a good start and S Marquis took another in the first over after tea, but they were the only two to fall as Frampton coasted to their target, helped by a mixture of dropped catches and poor bowling. Hampset face Lansdown 2nd at the weekend.
■ The second side welcomed Bishop Sutton in a reduced 30 over match to accommodate the football. Sutton surprisingly elected to field and Hampset took advantage with an opening partnership of 60. Jon Dolman joined skipper Richard Holmes (61) to share a 124 partnership for the second wicket. Dolman fell 14 short of a century as Hampset posted 236-3. After the extended tea break, Sutton reached 100-2 but as they chased their improbable target wickets began to fall and ended up 37 short of the target. James Wilson (3-28) was the pick of the bowlers, Glen Shattock (2-31) also chipped in.
■ The third team visited Carsons & Mangotsfield 3rd and won by six wickets. Terry Sandys (3042) topped the bowling figures as Carsons were restircted to 195-7. Tom Matthews (91) and Matt Fry (33) produced a decisive 142 run partnership as Hampset reached the target in the 29th over.
■ COMBE DOWN were mainly able to watch the football as Spye Park forfeited the match due to not being able to raise a team. Combe earned 20 points.
■ WILTSHIRE lost their second consecutive match by 75 runs to Berkshire at Corsham. The visitors chose to bat and scored 296 (Waqar Hussein 53 and Steward Davison 63) before being bowled out in the 90th over. Tahir Afridi took 3-50 and Ed Young 3-63. By the end of the first day Wiltshire were on 87-2 before being all out for 266 in 59 overs. Neil Clark scored 54 and Afridi made 77 off 66 balls. Mungo Russell took 5-81 and Chris Peploe 3-62.
Berkshire’s second innings finished on 163 as Luke Evans took 4-51 and Ryan Murray 4-47 to give Wiltshire a day and 24 overs to reach 194. Continuing overnight from 40-3, Wiltshire were all out for 118, Will Wade scored 32 and Jack Mynott finished unbeaten on 39. Afridi was awarded Wadworth Man of the Match.
Wiltshire next play Cornwall at St Austell over July 22-24.