Chard CC 1st XI 263 / 6 (50) def. North Perrott CC 1st XI 241 / 9 (50)

CHARD earned an important 22 run victory at the weekend over North Perrott in the WEPL Somerset.

The win keeps Chard in second place on the league table and just narrowly behind the league leaders Wellington.

In the match, a century from star batter Reid Mawdsley helped Chard to overcome their opponents in front of a large crowd.

After winning the toss, North Perrott chose to field first and perhaps regretted the decision come close of play.

Chard openers Niall Crouch and Mawdsley looked to get on the front foot early on.

Crouch was dismissed for 13 runs, however Mawdsley carried on and stayed a constant right through the home side's innings.

Nathan Johnson came to the crease next and added 12 runs before he was dismissed.

Harvey Dening was next to the middle and he built a strong partnership with Mawdsley, scoring 41 runs himself, to put Chard well in control.

The pair hit boundaries at will as the North Perrott bowlers struggled to find a way to break through.

Eventually they did break down the partnership, and they dismissed Malcolm Cloete soon after for 6 runs.

Josh Short (25), Jack Larcombe (6) and Scott Wells-Burr (not out 18) added some important runs towards the tail order to help take Chard's total to 263 for 6 after 50 overs.

But the talk of the innings was the 121 runs scored by Mawdsley. He did that off 143 balls and hit an impressive 15 fours and 2 sixes for a strike rate of 84.62.

North Perrott through everything at Chard, using eight bowlers in total, with the pick of the bunch being George Retter who finished with two wickets in his 10 overs.

In reply, North Perrott made a decent start as Retter smashed 54 runs off 53 balls.

And batting at four, Jack Henderson added 78 runs to help North Perrott take control of the match.

However wickets fell quickly around him and soon Chard were back in charge.

The tail order fell cheaply and the visitors were left needed over 40 runs from the final wicket.

The pair of Chris Bondy and Dan White put on their best effort however they fell short of the total.

Cloete took four wickets for 17 runs in his 10 over spell which also featured three maidens to end with the best figures for the home side.

While Josh Short also took three wickets to round out a good day in general for Chard CC.

Up next for Chard is an away match against local rivals Yeovil CC on Saturday, July 22.