West of England 2nd XI Premier 2

Ashcott & Shapwick 2nd XI 236-9 beat Chard 2nd XI 235-3 by 1 run

A COMBINATION of accurate bowling and misjudgement of run rate by Chard’s batsmen led to thrilling match.

Batting first, Ashcott opened in style, with William Rudge (40) and Oskar White (87) setting the foundation for a big score.

However, Chard’s Neil rogers stopped them in their tracks with a fine nine-over spell in which he took 3-19 and turning the match Chard’s way.

Josh Luckins (28) and Chris White (21) saw Ashcott over the 200-mark and the innings closed on 236-9 with Joe Draper coming back strong to take 4-56 off his nine overs.

Neil Wyatt was the other wicket-taker in a miserly spell of 1-21 off nine.

Chard’s reply also got off to a solid start with Graeme Johnson and Tom Baulch giving them hope.

However, they were both tied down by accurate spells from Luckins and Spearing which put them behind the clock.

Harvey Dening came in to blast his way to a fine unbeaten 72 off only 84 and he and Daniel Glentworth (17no off 25) did their best to reach the target but it was too late.

In a tense finish, Chard closed just one short with seven wickets remaining when the overs ran out.