West of England Premier League

Glos/Wilts Division

Rockhampton 73-1 beat Apperley 72 ao by nine wickets

ROCKHAMPTON have been crowned champions of the West of England Premier League Glos/Wilts Division after a season-long fight at the top of the table with Chippenham.

And they did it in some fashion with a stunning victory over basement side Apperley which was all wrapped up within 38 overs of the match starting.

It was a day when New Zealander Matt Wells would nearly go through the entire Apperley card as he finished the season with an extraordinary afternoon of wickets, accumulating 8-28 in his ten overs.

Rockhampton won the toss and put Apperley into bat. They soon reaped their rewards for putting the pressure on the bottom-placed outfit as opener Andy O’Connor became the first of Wells’ victims when he was caught by Jack Spence for nine runs.

And they lost their second opener – James Frankland – with just 23 on the board when Wells ripped out his stumps  also for nine.

It began a tale of woe for the visitors to Rockhampton’s Boundary Field as the home side went for the throat. Luke Smith, at number four, could only add five before Rockhampton’s Rob Belbin grabbed a catch to send him back to the pavilion while number three Matt Williams did not last much longer as he also went for five, caught by Chris Perry.

By the time that Apperley reached 40, they had six wickets down wit Tom Rock going for just two when Wells had him lbw.

Number six Matt Williamson offered a token amount of resistance but his partner James MacPherson walked in to face six balls and walked back off with his stumps scattered without troubling the scorers.

Apperley’s Guenther Starost put in a quick-fire 12 off 13 balls before he became the eighth of Wells’ victims, caught by Will Tyler.

And at 60-8 there was little that Apperley could do against the outstanding Rockhampton attack, which saw Wells’ backed by top bowling from Jamie Wakefield, who finished on 0-12 off five overs, Chris Willoughby, with 0-5 in his four overs and 0-25 from Perry.

Apperley number nine Louis Hamilton tried to stay at the crease and lasted 29 balls for his seven runs. He remained unbeaten as well as number ten Ed Burrows, after smashing a boundary, was run-out by Michael Dryden.

And finally James Hancox came in to trundle an over and picked-up the final wicket with his very first ball when he clean bowled number 11 Luke Ridal, leaving the visitors on 72 all out from 29.1 overs.

It was a seemingly simple target for the Rams to reach but still required a little caution that they did not fall into the same trap as Apperley.

Happily for them, it was plain sailing as opener Jamie Wakefield took the bull by the horns to lead the victory charge.

Will Tyler was out early for three after nine balls but with Dryden dead batting one end for an unbeaten eight from 41 balls including a boundary, Wakefield splashed his willow and hit a six and six fours in his 51 from 59 balls to give the Rams a nine wicket victory and, with it, the league title.