Uphill cruise to first victory of the season

UPHILL Castle 1st XI secured their first win of the season following a six-wicket victory at Bishops Lydeard.

Having won the toss and electing to bat, Lydeard got off to a poor start after opener Sapey was bowled by George Cox (1-11) without scoring.

This led to a brief revival led by a run-a-ball innings of 34 from captain Hayward before he picked out the strategically-placed Cox attempting consecutive sixes off Marcus Bail (4-34).

After Weaver was caught off the bowling of Mitch Fox (2-58) for 14, Lydeard lost their next four wickets for just 19 as Bail ripped through the middle order and Fox caught opener Thomas for 17 off his own bowling.

The innings was given fresh impetus through a seventh wicket stand between Taylor and Parkman (11) before the latter was adjudged lbw off David Millard (1-23).

Taylor continued to counter-attack before he was last out for 35 after he was bowled by Kieran Ward (0-1) attempting to strike a fourth maximum.

Gareth Williams (24) was dropped off the first ball of the reply, with Castle chasing 159. Despite the initial scare, Williams and Millard put on 75 for the first wicket before the former was trapped lbw by Stone as Cox suffered a repeat dismissal three balls later.

Fox (6) was then given out lbw off the bowling of Walters as new batsman Luke Bliss (27 not out) joined Millard to regain control.

Millard fell with the score at 120-4 after he was bowled by Hayward for an excellent 77. Bliss was joined by Ward and the pair continued to accumulate regularly before Ward struck a legside six to take Uphill to within three runs of the target.

The unbroken fifth wicket stand of 40 saw Uphill home with 70 balls remaining, climbing out of the relegation zone and leapfrogging Lydeard in the process.

BISHOPS LYDEARD

A Sapey b Cox 0

M Thomas c&b Fox 17

J Hayward c Cox b Bail 34

R Weaver c Millard b Fox 14

B Stone b Bail 7

M Parkman st Williams b Bail 3

T Stone c Ward b Bail 0

N Taylor b Ward 35

W Parkman lbw Millard 11

G Walters c&b Bliss 2

A Fookes not out 0

Extras 35

Total 158

Bowling: G Cox 10-3-11-1; M Fox 10-1-58-2; M Bail 10-1-31-4; L Bliss 7-1-18-1; D Millard 5-0-23-1; K Ward 0.2-0-0-1.

UPHILL CASTLE

G Williams lbw Stone 24

D Millard b Hayward 77

G Cox lbw b Stone 0

M Fox lbw b Walters 6

L Bliss not out 27

K Ward not out 17

Extras 9

Total (4 wkts) 160

THE seconds returned to winning ways with a last-over four-wicket victory over Broadway and Horton.

Castle were asked to field first and got off to a blistering start, reducing the visitors to 16-4. However, with some big hitting middle order batsmen, Broadway eventually finished all out for 212.

The Uphill bowlers shared the wickets with Pete Jobling (2-44), Andy Leech (3-36), George Chapman (3-58) and Andy Llewellyn (1-24) and well supported by youngsters Tommy Llewellyn and Brad Patch.

The Uphill innings got off to a good start with Mark Hodder (33) and Rich Fletcher (22) putting on 50 for the first wicket. Wickets began to fall as Tom Oultram (16), Connor Davidson (15) and Tom Llewellyn (9) were all dismissed.

This left Uphill on 140-6 with 15 overs remaining. Skipper Andy Llewellyn (59 not out) was joined by veteran Ray Dibben (21 not out) and they saw Uphill to their target with three balls remaining and maximum points.

UPHILL Castle Cavaliers recorded their third win in a row with a 16-run margin at home against Wembdon.

Having won the toss, Uphill chose to bat first reaching 73 before Martin Palmer was caught for 36. A flurry of wickets followed and fellow opener Paul Kuht (36) left the late middle order of Ben Hodder (11), Sid Camper (10) and Kieran Chapman (18) to take Uphill’s score to 154 in their 45 overs.

Wembdon’s innings followed in similar fashion with the openers putting on 60 in rapid time before Paul Pidgeon was stumped by Jack Biggs.

This opened the door and man of the match Jacob Matthews (6-46) ripped through the middle order with Chapman (2-22), Miller (1-19) and Greed (1-8) all picking up valuable wickets.