Taunton St Andrews 3rd XI 223-9 - Wellington 2nd XI 78

Despite a magnificent hat-trick by Richard Henwood there was little of joy for Wellington 2nd XI to take away from this Somerset League Reserves Competition Division One match at Bishop Foxes School last weekend as at times ragged fielding, profligate catching and a poor combined batting effort all conspired to send the team to a crushing 145 run defeat, one of the club's heaviest league defeats in terms of runs.

It had all started so well as Richard Henwood removed Davies for a duck as he walked too far over and exposed his leg-stump and it was knocked back. Kennedy then followed as Chris Rudd, who had replaced Henwood in the attack, saw Richard Short accept a bullet of a chance at mid-wicket and at 9-2 TSA were in a spot of bother having been put into bat.
Then came the two drops that turned the match as Grundy, who was playing for the home side's 1st XI as recently as two years ago, was dropped on zero and then Wadham was dropped first ball.
As it seems to be these lives given ensured that this pair made Wellington pay the price for these misses as they lashed 85 runs for the third TSA wicket as Grundy cracked a brutal 80 with three sixes that easily cleared the boundary, he hit the ball cleanly and showed undoubted class.
Wadham played around him, but his 41 runs were of much value to his team as they allowed strokemakers to flourish at the other end.
Pimm with 31 and Berryman with 40no raised TSA to 184-5 with Adrian Lee, who bowled better than 1-55 in 10 overs suggests, and George Coate making the breakthroughs at this point.
Berryman and TSA stalwart Alan Parsons got their side through the 200 run barrier before Richard Henwood, in his third spell, produced Wellington 2nd XI's first hat-trick for eight years as he got Parsons caught behind easily by Kevin Crout and then bowled Hockey and Sergeant with the next two balls to spark wild scenes of celebration - the last player to achieve this feat was club president Roy Hutchings against Castle Cary 2nd XI in June 1999.
Wellington could not claim the last TSA wicket, but at 223-9 at tea they had reigned the home side in well despite not been at their very best in the field.

The Wellington innings was a poor one and was all over in 26.3 overs as Grundy and Burge bowled a testing and incisive opening burst.
However at 41-2 in 12 overs Wellington could at least have been looking at gaining some batting points, but the roof fell in when Chris Rudd was caught and bowled by Grundy for 21 as a good slower ball did for the top scorer in the Wellington innings.
Wickets fell too often for comfort there after as Parsons and Wadham slowed down the attack, but not the flow of Wellington batsmen returning to the pavilion as Parsons took 4-14 and Wadham 2-12.
Only Adrian Lee with 18no joined Chris Rudd in making double figures for Wellington as the Red and Blacks second string were humbled.

Taunton St Andrews 3rd XI took a full 35 points from this fixture and Wellington 2nd XI received only 12 as the home side stay second and keep up the pressure on leaders Chard 2nd XI and Wellington stay in sixth place despite the nature of this defeat.