Winscombe continued their unbeaten start to the season with what looked until the last 10 overs like an unlikely victory in a topsy turvy game against Butleigh.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat Winscombe made a strong start thanks to a fluent opening partnership between captain Ben Goodrum (46) and Jack Fraser (21).

At 101-1 off 18 overs a big score looked achievable but a mini collapse followed the dismissal of Tom Hall for 24, with Butleigh's bowlers making life difficult for incoming batsmen.

Jory Cureton (20), playing in his first match of the season, started the rebuilding but maximum batting points and a par total were only secured by an excellent 42 from club legend Dave Bailey.

Winscombe’s innings finished at 201-9 from their 45 overs, with left-arm spinner Sam Bilsborough taking a miserly 2-19 from nine overs.

Harvey Hicks and Toby Connock were also impressive with 4-40 and 3-38 from their nine overs respectively.

Wayward Winscombe bowled plenty of wides and no balls in reply, which made life too easy for Butleigh’s experienced openers Mark Agutter and Dan Durston who took full advantage.

Despite Mike Coe and particularly Jack Fraser pegging back the scoring rate, at 115-0 off 20 overs Butleigh were hot favourites.

However, Winscombe kept their belief and when Fraser (nine overs 1-26) snared Durston lbw for 48 and Cureton was introduced to the attack and dismissed Agutter for a solid 51 the momentum of the game started to shift.

Wickets began to fall regularly and the required run rate crept up as Butleigh fought to the end but were finally dismissed in the last over for 184.

Cureton, outstanding on his return finished with 4-30 from his nine overs having been ably supported by a much improved second spell from Milo Corkwell, who finished with 3-39 from his nine.

While there was celebration of the unlikely victory and strong contributions from particularly Goodrum, Cureton and Bailey, there was recognition that Winscombe’s overall performance was below the standards the team expects of itself.

Improvement will be needed if their winning run is to continue against Long Sutton this weekend.