Game One: 1st XI

Potterne v Bristol, WEPL Premier 1, 5 May 2018
Bristol 144 (36 overs), W Young 71, J Goodwin 3-13
Potterne 150-3 (28.1 overs), N Clarke 57no, E Young 55no
A disappointing start to their 2018 WEPL Premier 1 campaign saw Bristol soundly beaten by Potterne, by seven wickets with more than 20 overs to spare in the Wiltshire sunshine. Potterne’s new captain Ashur Morrison won the toss and inserted the visitors who, despite fielding an enviably strong batting line-up on paper, subsided to 50 for 6 of 15 overs within the first hour’s play.
James Bracey was first to go: after striking two authoritative leg-glances for four and picking up a third, more fortuitous, boundary from an attempted leave, his pick-up shot off his legs didn’t quite make it to the short boundary and was caught by Wijerathne. Three overs later, Trenouth, who had looked comfortable in picking up four singles, was the victim of an amazing catch by Clark at backward point to give Jake Roberts his second wicket.
This brought in Kieran Noema-Barnett to join returning overseas pro Will Young, and the Kiwi pair set about steadying the ship, picking off the odd single here and there for the next three or four overs. Noema-Barnett then started to open his shoulders, finding the straight boundary with two cross-batted shots, and the no-man’s land just beyond mid-off with a third. He finally sent a skyer in the direction of the extra cover boundary where Wijerathne took another comfortable catch to leave Bristol 40 for 3.
Worse was to come as Louie Shaw (caught behind), Matt Brewer and Will Rudge (both comprehensively bowled) all fell to Jake Goodwin, to whom Bristol’s batsmen seemed to have few answers, and who at the fall of Rudge’s wicket had figures of 2-1-1-3.
Jack Ellison and Vir Lakahni, coming in at seven and eight, both hung around for at least as many deliveries (21 and 24 respectively) as any of their predecessors, and although they only contributed seven runs between them, they helped Young to increase the score to 88. Lakhani then fell to a spectacular diving catch at slip by Ed Young (which some observers felt might have been unnecessarily spectacular).
This brought Richard Morrison to the wicket, who raced into double figures, making use of every available part of his bat, with a particular emphasis on the inside edge of it. Meanwhile Young had moved up a gear and was starting to farm the strike more successfully and find the boundary with greater regularity, raising his 62-ball half-century with a cracking square cut for his fifth four to add to two sixes. He followed this up with a bizarre ramp-sweep shot for four off Basil Akram as Morrison hung on determinedly at the other end, taking a blow in the chest off a short delivery in the process.
Young took the partnership, easily the highest of the innings, to 48 and his own score to 71 with two sixes off his namesake, Ed; the first a lusty blow over mid-wicket, the second a full toss despatched over extra cover. But next ball he was given out LBW sweeping, and the final wicket pair had only increased the score by a further five leg-byes and three singles before Neil Pollard walked down the wicket to Ed Young and, apparently oblivious to any danger, stayed there long enough for wicket-keeper Cullen to fumble, recover and remove the bails.
Thanks to Young’s 79-ball effort (the next highest batsman’s score was 13), Bristol at least had something to bowl at, and they were in the game at the end of the thirteenth over with Potterne reduced to 40 for 3. Noema-Barnett induced a thick edge from Basil Akram which keeper Trenouth caught without fuss, and then trapped Cullen LBW as plum as they come. The reason for Trenouth’s posting behind the stumps became clear when Bracey came on as first change bowler, and it was he who took the third wicket, that of Alsop, caught and bowled off a leading edge.
Bristol had chances to make further inroads: Noema-Barnett couldn’t quite cling on to a chance at slip off Clark’s first ball, and Rudge’s incredulity that his impassioned LBW appeal in the next over was not upheld left him immobile in the middle of the pitch for several seconds. Venting his frustration next ball with a short delivery, incredulity turned to exasperation as the ball arced towards deep extra cover and Bracey and Morrison left it for each other.
Ed Young was given two further lives later on, but by then the game was beyond retrieval. He and Clark both completed run-a-ball fifties in the closing stages, leaving Bristol’s bowlers, the openers excepted, with some bruising figures. Bristol will go again next Saturday in their first home league game against Premier 1 newcomers Goatacre.