MIDSOMER NORTON 131-8 NORTH PERROTT 130

After the previous weekend’s washout, the sun shone at Withies Lane last Saturday as Norton welcomed North Perrott in a fixture that was always likely to be a tight, close-fought affair between two teams separated by just one point in the League table.

Norton skipper, Nick Pang, won the toss and Norton fielded first. Pang’s decision to put the opposition in proved the right thing to do as seven wickets fell for 29 runs to leave the visitors in serious trouble at 39-7.

Gary Filer and Dan Chard led the Norton attack and Chard struck first to remove the opener, Baird, with just ten runs on the board. Chard struck again in his next over, and then Filer took wickets in successive overs to reduce North Perrott to 17-4. With wickets falling, runs were hard to come by, and the 50 mark was passed in the 24th over but with seven wickets down.

North Perrott then rallied and the largest partnership of the match – 62 runs for the eighth wicket – was only broken when Paul Robbins took a superb catch off his own bowling to dismiss Rowswell for 39. Rowswell’s partner, Marshall-James, was undefeated on 40 at the end of the innings. Filer finished with 2-19 and Dan Chard 4-14. The other wicket takers were Pang, Rowe and Robbins. Norton’s victory target was 131.

While the start of Norton’s innings wasn’t quite as dramatic as their visitors; at 20-3 Norton knew they had a game on their hands when Jake Rowe arrived at the crease. At 47-5, Rowe was joined by Martin Cox and this pair took the score to 90 before Cox (26) was dismissed by a well-taken catch in the slips.

With four wickets remaining, Norton needed 41 more runs to win. Nick Cox came to the wicket and Norton made steady progress until Rowe (40) was dismissed at 118. Dan Chard was out at 125 when Chris Hampshire came in, meaning Norton needed six to win with two wickets left. Hampshire hit a boundary off his second ball and then Cox called him to run a smartly-taken single to win the game. Cox ended the game 17-not-out.

The result pushes Norton into fourth place in the WEPL table. Norton now face their toughest test of the season so far when they travel to top-of-the-table Taunton Deane on Saturday, 29th June. The game starts at 12.30 p.m. On Monday, 1st July at Withies Lane, the club hosts the Somerset Over-60s versus Australia Over-60s. The game starts at 1 p.m. All are welcome to attend. The bar will be open all day, with a BBQ later on.

Charlie Matthews