Archived Match Report
First XI vs. Avoncroft - 11 Jun - Nervy end on an eventful day in Avoncroft as Andrews hits back to back 100s
The day started with rain clouds approaching the ground, captain Lloyd loses another toss and Frome are put into the field.
On what was a superb batting track early on, the Avoncroft openers got off to a very good start with 61 made off 13 overs with no wickets down. Morgan broke the partnership with Cox (16) chipping up an offside half volley to cover. Lloyd then came in to the attack to remove the other opener Hare (36) with a smart catch taken at slip by Styles. Styles himself then picked up a wicket catching the Avoncroft batsman LBW with the score at 132 for 3 off 24 overs. Nicko Evans was then brought into the attack for his first spell of the season, who repaid the faith showed by picking up 3 wickets altogether, bowled with some decent pace. The Avoncroft middle order rallied together to with some big hitting after a rain delay, which saw James (50) and Elliott (61) smash boundaries on what still was a good batting track after the rain had come. Avoncroft finished on 280 after Morgan/Smith bowled well to clear up the tail, after it looked like Frome could be chasing 300+, after being bowled out by a Frome team with only 10 players.
Wickets: Lloyd 1, Morgan 4, Evans 3, Smith 1, Styles 1
The Frome innings got off to a decent start with both P.Andrews and Styles hitting a few boundaries each in the opening 11 overs which left Canon Frome on 38 before the rain came. Heavy rain fell for the next 25minutes which meant the game was reduced to Frome having to bat 41 overs (Canon Frome still needed the full 281 off these overs for an outright win or 231 to have a better run rate than Avoncroft after the 41 overs and get a winning draw). This meant needing almost 200 off 30 overs, which was now on a damp batting track making runs hard to come across as the batsman had to adjust to the new conditions. Styles fell for 15 after a 50 opening partnership with Andrews. Wilson got a swift 11 before managing to hit a lovely lofted drive straight to the fielder, James (3) fell quickly after which left the total seeming along way off (at this stage needed to score 145 off 21 overs with 3 wickets down). Andrews and Smith then managed to put on a superb partnership of 132 which took Canon Frome into a very commanding position of 208 off 36 overs before the brilliant innings of Smith fell for 65. Frome now needed just 23 off 5 overs. Morgan joined Andrews at the crease, and with some more big hitting from both, saw Frome cross the 231 target (although still needed to survive the remaining overs) and Paul Andrews complete his consecutives centuries. Morgan then fell for a very brisk 29 after deciding the 281 was in reach for the outright win. Evans fell quickly after, and when Andrews finally fell for a brilliant 104, Frome looked in danger of throwing all there hard work away. Canon Frome only need to survive another 7 balls to get the winning draw, the nerves weren't helped when Muthu fell with 3 balls left. Thankfully Lloyd was able to see the last few balls off to complete what was a very good victory in tricky conditions!
