Bath CC 3rd XI v Claverham (Yatton) CC 1st XI

Bath 3rd XI won a close match against Claverham (Yatton) CC 1st XI on Saturday.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Claverham lost Tom Ashman (0) early as he was trapped in front by Tim Scott. Fellow opener, James Copeland and Lloyd Richardson then put together a 69 run partnership in good time, before Copeland was bowled by Will Poulton for 38. But then the introduction of leg spinner, Max O’Farrell to Bath’s bowling attack completely changed the direction of the innings. First, O’Farrell picked up the important wicket of Richardson for 46, but he then ran through the middle and lower order to finish with figures of 6-28 as the home side were bowled out for just 140.

Bath’s reply had the worst possible start, as both openers, Sam Simmons (1) and Dan Hope (0) went early to leave the away side 6-2. O’Farrell (12) soon followed to leave Bath 23-3 with a lot of work to do, but Bath’s middle order all chipped in with double figure scores to inch closer to the target, but as wickets continued to tumble, Bath were left 98-8 with 42 runs still required for victory. Once again, skipper Tim Scott (29*) led from the front, combining well with Luke Welsh (14) to take Bath to a two wicket win in the 36th over. Bath’s 3rd XI remain in third place in the league.