WEPL Somerset Division

Yeovil 182-6 beat Wembdon 169 by 13 runs

A LOWER-ORDER recovery was not quite enough to lead Wembdon to victory in front of a bumper crowd at The Green on Saturday.

With plenty through the gate to enjoy the first ever Wembdon Beer, Cider and Music Festival (see page 19), the hosts and Yeovil put on an entertaining low-scoring contest.

The hosts won the toss and bowled first, a decision which looked a wise one when Brendan Pope took two early wickets on the way to excellent figures of 2-15 from 10 overs.

Incoming batsman Will Hanrahan made batting look simpler than those before him, however, and made a vital 51 before he was trapped in front by the economical Dan Bingham (1-21 from 10).

Wembdon continued to chip away, with Nkulelko Serame (1-40) and Matt Hubbard (1-36) adding their names to the wickets column, but an unbroken seventh-wicket stand between captain Sam Fuller (34*) and Alex Murphy (33*) proved vital and led Yeovil to 182-6.

Like their visitors earlier in the day, Wembdon lost important early wickets as four of the top five fell for single figure scores, with Alex Murphy (4-34) causing much of the early damage.

Serame (35) and Mike Watts (26) got Wembdon back into the match and set up a tense finish.

Pope (12) inched Wembdon nearer their target but it proved just too much for final pair Max Sellick and Matt Hubbard to do, Sellick the last man out for 12 to leave Hubbard unbeaten on 13 and Wembdon 13 runs short.

Wembdon’s fourth defeat of the season leaves them third from bottom in the table and they face a trip to Minehead on Saturday.