Cheddar 297/2 beat Barrow Gurney 195/12 by 102 runs
Losing the toss meant little to Cheddar as Barrow Gurney put them in to bat in the hazy sunshine anyway. The Zach Gittings (9) and Harry Bishop combination took the score to 211, a total that Dan Scholes and Henry Blair managed to protect by the end of their allotted 4 overs. Hill (8) and Meadowcroft nudged the total up to 225, at which stage Cheddar had lost the only 2 wickets of their innings that day.
It was then the turn of the big-hitting duo of Dan Mehlig and Fin Travis, who took the score on to 257 with Mehlig getting 14 including 2 boundaries. Enter stage left Skipper Jim Bamber with Sid Morris, left with the task of getting to the target of 300 runs. With 4 fours in his 26, Bamber nearly got them there, needing a 6 off the last ball but managing only 3, mainly due to the great running between the wickets by Morris, whose 7 runs do not reflect the true value of his innings. Cheddar ended on 297/2.
Cheddar started well after the break with 2 quick run-outs. Bamber took his obligatory wicket in the 5th over, before Cheddar released their secret weapon, Sam Hill. He took 2 wickets in his first over with some accurate bowling, before handing over to Jack Meadowcroft who took the first of his 2 wickets for the day. Gittings and Morris were not going to be left out, and they helped themselves to a wicket apiece.
But it was once again star bowler Harry Bishop who ended with the best bowling figures for the day. His 3 wickets came off 4 overs, yielding only 1 run, taking his tally for the season to 14. He was ably supported by Mehlig and Blair behind the stumps with a catch each. Mehlig had earlier executed a fine stumping chance off Meadowcroft's bowling.
This left Cheddar with their 9th consecutive win and their fourth by a margin in excess of 100. With only 2 matches to come: Winscombe this Friday evening 28th, and then the grand finale against run-away league leaders Failand and Portbury the week after, Cheddar will hope that their early run of four losses will not prevent them from attaining a top three finish.
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