Chard 264/8 def. Butleigh 255/8

CHARD Cricket Club earned a nine-run victory at the weekend at home to Butleigh CC.

The result in the WEPL Somerset division keeps Chard in second place, now 24 points behind league leaders Wellington.

Winning the toss Captain Dalwood elected to bat, Glentworth and Mawdsley got Chard up and running with a 67 run partnership for the first wicket.

Mawdsley was the first to go as a good bit of bowling saw one sneak through his defence and take off stump. Glentworth continued to put away any lose bowling as Chard lost Crouch to leave the hosts 90-2.

It soon became 93-3 as Chard lost Glentworth for a well made 40, this meant Chard were it desperate need of a partnership as they looked to get up to 225 and maximum batting points.

Dening and Cloete gave Chard a vital 50 run partnership, Dening blasting anything over pitched and Cloete, manoeuvring the ball into space.

Chard lost Dening to a snick behind for a well made 34. Short, Dalwood, Larcombe and Evans all chipped in to get Chard up to a decent score of 264/8 at the halfway stage.

Chard got off to the best possible start as Evans trapped Anderson early doors.

Spin was introduced early as Chard were hunting for wickets. C.Scott signalled his return to the line up with a wicket on his first ball, bowling opener Agutter for 3.

Butleigh number 3 batsman Jacob Potts was a real thorn in the Chard bowlers side, despatching anything loose to the boundary on his way to a well made 101 off 139 balls to get his side close to the Chard target.

Things looked tight in the last 10 overs with Butleigh needing 70 and Chard needing 5 wickets to take the win.

Some very important overs from Evans and Cloete meant Butleigh were never able to get in front of the run rate. Dalwood came back into the attack and instantly removed Hicks for 41 and Ough first ball thanks to some outstanding work on the boundary from Short.

Short came into the attack and removed the century maker Potts to leave the visitors with two new batsman and the run rate around 8 an over.

Short and Dalwood held there nerve for the final 2 overs restricting the visitors to singles and dot balls as Chard would take a 9 run win.

For his commitment in the field and how he set the game up with his valuable 40 during Chards batting innings, Rob Glentworth takes this weeks Player of the day.

Chard 1st XI are home again next weekend as they host Wembdon. As Chard keep winning, the pressure stays on Wellington at the top of the table.

An exciting end to the season, that is for sure.