West of England Premier League Prem 2 Glos/Wilts
Corsham 320-7 beat Rockhampton 209-8 by 111 runs
ROCKHAMPTON made the journey to Wiltshire based Corsham looking to follow their first league win of the season against Lechade the previous week with another victory in the West of England Premier Glos/Wilts division.
Having won the toss, Rockhampton skipper Jamie Wakefield chose to insert the hosts, looking for another strong performance from his bowlers after the win over Lechlade. However, the Corsham opening batsmen had other ideas as they immediately put Rockhampton openers Sam Jukes and Sam Nichols to the sword. The boundaries were peppered during the powerplay as the Rams struggled to stem the flow of runs, with Adam Mitchell in particular taking full advantage of the fielding restrictions.
Having conceded 88 runs in the first 10 overs, Rockhampton were always facing an uphill battle to keep Corsham to a modest total on good batting track. Seamers Chris Willoughby (1-39) and Will Tyler (1-33), along with slow left armer James Hancox (1-39), did bring an element of control for the Rams in the middle overs, but with wickets in hand Corsham always looked well placed to score in excess of 300 runs from their 50 overs.
When Mitchell was removed for 97 runs by the returning Jukes (4-64), who made a spirited comeback in his second spell, the damage was largely done and ultimately Corsham ended on an excellent 320-7.
Rockhampton made a solid start to their innings with both Matt Tyler (36) and Wakefield (45) looking to set a strong platform for the chase. However, in the face of an ever-increasing run rate, wickets started to fall at regular intervals as batsmen sought to find the boundaries in face of some good bowling from the Corsham attack.
It became increasingly clear that, despite spirited knocks from Rowan Cartlidge (29) and Rob Belbin (22) in the middle order, Rockhampton were not going to trouble the Corsham total of 320. Ultimately, Rockhampton ended their 50 overs on 209-8 to conclude a disappointing day for the Rams.
Rockhampton host Westbury next week at the Boundary Field as they look to return to winning ways and climb the West of England Premier Glos/Wilts table.
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