Banwell defeat Wembdon playing on an artificial wicket.

AFTER the rain of the previous 24 hours, it was only the artificial track and the long grass at Wembdon that meant that the game could be played at all.

Having been put in to bat by Wembdon, Dave Eckett and Mark Biggs made steady progress for Banwell and Churchill, until Eckett (25) was caught at extra cover.

The unpredictable nature of the wicket was illustrated by the next two balls, David Pye cutting the first from above shoulder height and then having the next shoot past his shins from a ball that pitched in much the same place.

It was no surprise that there was a steady flow of wickets. Mark Biggs (52) and M Bebber (23) finished as the other principal contributors in the final total of 167-8.

Rawles and Lowe started brightly for Wembdon and captain Pye decided to bring the slower bowlers into play and they changed the game.

After removing Rawles in his first over, John Biggs bowled accurately to complete a magnificent spell of 12-5-19-2, whilst Mark Biggs returned figures of 12-5-26-4.

By the time that they had completed their spells, Banwell’s were on top, with Wembdon needing 68 runs from the final seven overs.

Some big hitting from youngster Lowe (36), made for a closer finish than had looked likely, but the accurate bowling of Pearson (10-1-37-0), combined with a fine fielding display leading to three run outs in the latter stages, meant that Banwell ran out winners as Wembdon finished on 155-9.