Bath CC 4th XI v Bristol Eagles CC 1st XI

Bath CC 4th XI picked up an important win against top of the table, Bristol Eagles 1st XI on Saturday at the Brownsword Ground.

After being asked to bat first, Bath openers, David Pippett and Thiaan Aspeling reached 22 without loss before Aspeling was bowled for 12. Allan Alex (8), Charlie Pritchard (9), Gaven Royce (10) and Alex Moss (0) all fell as Bath reached 103-5, with a lot of work still to do to post a competitive total. But Mike Roe then joined Pippett, and these two injected some momentum into the innings, putting on 74 runs in quick time as Pippett finished on 89 not out and Roe on 23 not out as the home sides innings closed on 175-5 in their 40 overs.

Bristol Eagles made their customary positive start before the introduction of the leg spin of Allan Alex (2-16) removed both openers to leave the Eagles on 39-2. Ankit Sharma then anchored the innings as wickets continued to fall around him. At drinks, the match was nicely in the balance, but then the reintroduction of Thiaan Aspeling (4-47) to the bowling attack changed the game as he snapped up four quick wickets, at the same time as off spinner, Veera Sasidaran (3-20) also bowled tightly at the other end. However, it was left to Sasidharan to pick up the last two Eagles batters to bowl the away side out for 142 and win the match by 33 runs. The Bath 4th XI picked up 19 points from this win, which places them now 6th in the league.