Disappointment for Bath 1st XI in ECB National Club Championship

Round-up of Bath Cricket Club’s matches – Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July.

Bath 1st XI hit out during their ECB National Club Championship game against Shepherd’s Bush 1st XI on Sunday 12th July | Photo © Liz Bugg

Bath 1st XI’s bid to reach the quarter-finals of the ECB National Club Championship ended in disappointment on Sunday 12th July.

The Somerset side had battled into the national stages of the prestigious competition but were undone by Londoners Shepherd’s Bush 1st XI in a Round 4 match at North Parade.

Bath were shot out for 228 in 39.4 overs after being put in – and the team from the capital got home by two wickets with four balls to spare.

Skipper Harry Ellison, batting at number six, fared best when the hosts visited the crease. He made 61 from 60 balls.

Opener Ben Wells made 38 off 23 deliveries, number five Alex Haleem chipped in with 28 and number eight Louis Brown contributed an unbeaten 27.

Wells and number three Harry Dixon (24) added 65 for the second wicket. This was the biggest partnership on the Bath card, although Haleem and Ellison put on 63 for the fifth wicket.

Bath 1st XI on the attack against Shepherd’s Bush 1st XI on Sunday 12th July. The Londoners won to reach the ECB National Club Championship quarter-finals | Photo © Liz Bugg

Chinmay Mullapudi was Bath’s main tormentor, pocketing 5-35 from 7.4 overs.

Shepherd’s Bush were floundering at 46-3 from 14.5 overs in reply but Sid Thomson (39) and Fin Trenouth dug in and conjured up 50 for the fourth wicket.

Momentum swung back Bath’s way and the travellers were reduced to 137-7 from 30.1 overs.

However, number five Trenouth was still there – and he proved the decisive thorn in the hosts’ side.

He bludgeoned his way to 110 not out – featuring seven sixes and seven fours – from 69 balls.

Trenouth starred in a 61-run stand for the eighth wicket with Mullapudi and masterminded his team’s get-out-of-jail win that was secured at 229-8 from 39.2 overs.

Bath 1st XI celebrate the fall of a Shepherd’s Bush 1st XI wicket at North Parade on Sunday 12th July | Photo © Liz Bugg

James Arney (3-41 in eight overs) and Matthew Cadywould (2-44 from seven overs) grabbed the bulk of the wickets.

Shepherd’s Bush will play another London outfit, Teddington 1st XI, in the last eight.

Teddington overcame Bath’s West of England Premier League Premier 1 rivals Bridgwater 1st XI by nine wickets in Round 4.

Bath 1st XI were also beaten on Saturday 11th July, losing a high-scoring league game with Bridgy at The Parks by eight wickets.

The guests plundered 346-7 from their 50 overs after opting to bat, Sam Young (95), Ben Church (77) and Ellison (66) the leading scorers.

The total represented a superb turnaround by Bath, who were 23-2 and 75-3.

Church and Young frustrated the Sedgemoor side’s attack by putting on 164 for the fourth wicket, Cameron Harding ousting the former en route to 4-81 from 10 overs.

Bath made the perfect start when title-chasing Bridgwater replied, Spencer Gammon bowling James Regan for a duck in the first over.

But second-wicket duo Jacob Lintott (167 not out from 112 balls) and Joe Eckland (151 off 109 deliveries) took the home side to the verge of victory by blitzing their way to a 329-run partnership.

Bridgwater closed on 348-2 from only 38 overs, Gammon’s figures of 1-43 off nine overs being impressive under the circumstances.

Defeat means Bath remain in penultimate place in the table.

Bath 2nd XI tumbled to a six-wicket defeat by Brislington 1st XI when the sides met at North Parade in West of England Premier League Bristol & North Somerset on 11th July.

The hosts posted 251-6 from their 50 overs after deciding to bat, Haleem (36) and Charlie Brain (76) giving them a good start with an opening stand worth 73.

Thereafter only skipper Charlie Rustell (36) scored more than 28 against an attack in which Arthur Harman picked up 3-42 from 10 overs.

Anything Bath’s openers could do, Brislington’s could do much better.

In the response, Francisco Couana (61 off 62 balls) and captain Milo Ayres (126 from 100 deliveries) put together a first-wicket stand that yielded 161 runs in 22.3 overs.

Bath hit back and reduced their opponents to 197-4.

But Rhys Grove (26 not out) and Josh Whitemore (24 not out) guided Brislington to 255-4 off 43.4 overs, Hamish Bell claiming 3-27 from 10 overs.

Bath 3rd XI were 100-run winners when they took on Pill-based Lodway 1st XI at the Brownsword Ground in Bristol & District Cricket Association Division One on 11th July.

Sam Preece (63 off 44 balls) and Jack Goodwin (57) led the way for the hosts, who posted 220-9 from their 40 overs after choosing to bat.

However, Bath were 111-5 and needed two partnerships around the half-century mark – between Preece and captain Tim Scott (33), and Preece and Joe Prescott (25) – to steer them well away from danger.

Tom Metcalfe-Smith, with 3-31 in eight overs, was Lodway’s star bowler.

Prescott swooped for 4-40 off seven overs when Lodway responded. The visitors crumbled to 59-6 and were dismissed for 120 in 26.5 overs, Tobias Rice (41) and Stephen Edmonds (25) doing their best to hold things together.

Bath 4th XI fell to a two-wicket reverse when they travelled to Somerdale, Keynsham, to face Knowle 3rd XI in Bristol & District Cricket Association Division Six on 11th July.

The visitors made 168-8 in their 40 overs, having opted to bat.

Number four Jack Pippett (43) and number six Alan Alex (30) were the leading scorers across an innings during which Bath were 73-2.

Chris Green snaffled three wickets for Knowle, but his six overs went for 41 runs.

The home side tumbled to 117-7 in reply but a 31-run stand for the eighth wicket between captain Neil Brown (11) and Fahim Ahmed calmed nerves.

Then Ahmed (29 not out) and Robert Sims (12 not out) guided Knowle to the win at 169-8 off 36.1 overs, Veera Sasidharan grabbing three of the wickets.

Bath Wanderers 2nd XI were handed a walkover by Worcestershire team Dumbleton Women’s 1st XI on 12th July. The sides had been set to meet in Somerset in a Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation 35-overs-per-side match.

Forthcoming fixtures:

Saturday 18th July:

West of England Premier League:

Premier 1: Bath 1st XI v Frocester 1st XI (at North Parade, noon).

Bristol & North Somerset: Frenchay 1st XI v Bath 2nd XI (at The Bob Stone Ground, noon).

Bristol & District Cricket Association:

Division One: Lansdown 2nd XI v Bath 3rd XI (at Combe Park, 1 pm).

Division Six: Bath 4th XI v Stapleton 2nd XI (at Brownsword Ground, 1pm).

Sunday 19th July:

West of England Premier League:

Premier Cup: Bath 1st XI v Midsomer Norton 1st XI (at North Parade, 10am), Potterne 1st XI v Bath 1st XI (at North Parade, 4.30pm).

Women’s Premier Division: Apperley Women’s 1st XI v Bath Wanderers 1st XI (at School Road, 1pm).

Gloucestershire Cricket Foundation Women & Girls:

35 Overs: Brislington Women’s 1st XI v Bath Wanderers 2nd XI (11am).