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Venue:
Bath CC 3rd XI v Clevedon CC 2nd XI
Bath CC 3rd XI v Clevedon CC 2nd XI
Bath’s 3rd XI remain top of Division One after a five wicket away win against Clevedon CC 2nd XI on Saturday.
Choosing to field first felt like the right decision when Clevedon slipped to 35-2, but Josh Bray kept the scoreboard ticking as wickets continued to fall around him, as the Bath bowlers combined well to keep the pressure on the home side. Alongside one run out, wickets were shared around with Toby Eayres (2-24), Peter Biggs (3-24), Will Ireland (2-26) and Innes Pierce (2-32) all bowling fine spells. As Bray (41) was the last batter out, eventually bowled by Biggs, Clevedon had stuttered to 148 in the 34th over of this 40 over match.
In reply, the Bath openers had taken their score passed 30 before Mike Staves (27) was out. Sam Simmons (5) soon followed to leave the away side 48-2, with 100 runs still needed for victory. Fred Stappard (17) and Ben Harper (0) soon followed, and at 61-4 the match was very much in the balance. But Bath’s middle order then combined well with Toby Eayres (12) and Dan Hope putting on 47 for the fifth wicket before Eayres was out, and then Hope (43*) and Charlie Pritchard (12*) combined well to knock off the winning runs - taking Bath over the line with more than 10 overs still to be bowled.