North Petherton CC 1st XI v Frome CC 1st XI

Frome First XI continued their good start to the season and stole and early march on the pack by beating North Petherton and the weather on Saturday.

With early morning rain Frome won the toss and has no hesitation in fielding, and we're soon among the wickets as Neal trapped Stone LBW for a duck. Despite always looking threatening, Neal couldn't make a further breakthrough nor could the early introduction of Mark Sanger - bowling uphill into a gale-force wind. North Petherton, largely through Mike Burns, scored fairly freely, and with wet conditions proving hazardous for the Frome fielders the home side made them pay.

The heavens opened several times over the next hours, in which time North Petherton moved past 100, and despite having lost Burns they progressed to 150 for the loss of only two wickets, and with 14 overs to go in an innings reduced to 43 over-a-side, looked set for an imposing total. But Frome made a crucial breakthrough as Bleakley bowled Williams (67), and a rallying cry saw the momentum of the game shift, as next ball Tottle was stumped by Smith off Sanger. The next 13 overs saw Frome back to their best, picking up a further four wickets and conceding just 31 runs as North Petherton limped to 186-8 from their 43 overs.

Frome still knew they'd have their work cut out to chase down the runs, as Paul Sanger and Stonell made their way to the crease. Despite a few early boundaries taking the score to 20 Sanger was trapped LBW for 11. This bought in-form Bleakley to the crease to join Stonell, with whom he'd enjoyed a 150 run partnership the previous week, and together they continued where they'd left off. Bleakly began to find the boundary and Stonell rotated the strike, and together they kept the Frome score close to the required rate.

Bleakly passed 50, and despite accurate bowling from Burns, Frome moved themselves towards a strong position and at drinks were well-placed with around 100 needed from the final 22 overs with nine wickets in hand. Soon after drinks Stonell was dismissed for a well-made 26, but Smith and Bleakley continued Frome on their way.

Just when they looked set to cruise home, Bleakley (92) mistimed a drive to cover and Frome still required 40 to win. Lewis joined Smith but perished early, however Unwin then looked set to guide Frome home as he smashed a huge six and took them to within 20. But when he was run out and Gullock was LBW first ball the game was back on. Smith was still there looking calm under pressure, as he and Neal found the crucial runs to get Frome close, and despite losing Neal, Smith stuck the winning boundary to give Frome victory with six balls to spare, and open up and early gap at the top of the Somerset Division.