Somerset West CC recorded a one-run victory to secure their first league win of the season in First Division B at the weekend.
On the road against Blue Bells CC, the Somerset West lads lost the toss and were asked to bat on what looked like a very good pitch. The openers started well, but a spate of LBW decisions (three in one over) had SWCC in trouble.
They could not recover and were bowled out for 94. The only batsmen to offer resistance were Larry Morkel (26), Gouws Koen (25) and Nigel Dirks (20*).
The SWCC new-ball pair of Robert Uys and Eugene Geldenhuys bowled with determination and had Blue Bells in trouble early. They took eight wickets between them and restricted the scoring of their opponents. At lunch, Blue Bells CC were struggling on 39/8.
After the interval the remaining Blue Bells batsmen fought hard and batted sensibly to bring their team within a run of the total before a superb one-handed catch by Matthew Dickson off the bowling of Nigel Dirks ended the innings to secure a thrilling one-run win for SWCC.
Uys (4/23), Geldenhuys (4/34) and Dirks (2/16) were the best SWCC bowlers.
