West of England Premier League Prem 2 Glos/Wilts

Chippingham 185-7 beat Rockhampton 183ao by three wickets

TRISTAN De Beer smashed 66 for Rockhampton on Saturday but it was not enough to save his side from going down to a three wicket defeat in their West of England Premier League Prem Two Glos/Wilts clash at Chippenham.

And the defeat leaves Rockhampton in fifth place in the table after a sixth defeat from 15 matches this campaign.

Chippenham won the toss and put the Rams in to bat. The home side had early success as openers Matt Tyler and Will Cullimore both went cheaply with Rockhampton on 13-2.

They rallied slightly with Guy Borthwood and wicketkeeper De Beer coming to the crease. Borthwood made 18 before he was trapped lbw, but De Beer ploughed on with new partner Will Tyler.

Tyler went for 29 and De Beer was bowled for 66 after a lovely innings. However, by then, Rockhampton had recovered to 134-5 and were back on course for a reasonable total.

However, the innings fell apart as they went from that score to 183 all out. Richard Howell went for eight and Chris Willoughby contributed three to the total before skipper Will Cartlidge thrashed two boundaries in eight balls before falling for ten.

Sam Nichols stayed there to the bitter end as tailenders Dave McCabe and James Hancox both lost their wickets for four runs, Nichols walking off the pitch with an unbeaten 22.

It was a difficult target to defend but Rockhampton had opener Lee Ward out for four. But Chippenham’s Darryl Losper dropped anchor as he watched batsmen fall around him.

Rockhampton were favourites to win with the home side on 37-4 and 52-5 at various stages of the game.

But when Losper and number seven Paul Bates got together, they batted steadily to steer their side to within sight of victory.

Losper eventually went for 66 but, with the home total on 169-5 and wickets in hand, Bates and number nine Charlie Slade saw them home.

Nichols was the best Rockhampton bowler with 3-41, while Willoughby took 2-27 and McCabe had 1-33 as the Rams try and bounce back against Hatherley and Reddings this weekend.