Baker Cup: Bridgwater 162-7, Wellington 100
Wellington CC were unable to repeat last year’s Baker Cup success over Bridgwater as the reigning WEPL champions recorded a 62-run win at the Lloyd and Whyte Cricket Ground last night (Thursday), writes David Derrick.
There was a decent crowd for the quarter-final tie as Bridgwater won the toss and elected to bat.
Their collective effort was one of solid scores from their top four batters rather than a stellar score from one of their star turns.
Former Somerset player James Regan made 30 followed by Singh, Terry and Eckland with knocks of 30, 26 and 37 – each made at better than a run a ball.
Spin again did the trick for Wellington as Bridgwater went from 103-2 to their final 162-7 as Stian Smith, Lakshan Edirisinghe and Arron Campbell tasted success and pulled back the visitors’ momentum when they had looked set for over 180, maybe even 200.
Toby Stirzaker bagged two late scalps and Wellington would need 163 to win.
A wicket was lost on the first ball as the Red and Blacks made the worst possible start and, at 10-2, consolidation was needed.
Middle order contributions from Arron Campbell (28), Edirisinghe (11), George Ruell (17) and Jacob Hurry (19) gave them some chance of putting together the platform they needed to chase down the Bridgwater total.
But three-wicket hauls from Locke, Pope and Terry, plus one for Hurford, combined quelled the likelihood of this and ended the home side’s effort with the bat with 17 balls remaining.
Bridgwater now go forward to the semi-finals and will play the winner of the all WEPL Somerset Division tie between Taunton and Yeovil.
Wellington have one more stab at T20 success in 2026 when they take on Bishopston, from the WEPL Bristol and North Somerset division, and Trowbridge, from the WEPL Wiltshire division, in the WEPL Four Regions Cup on Sunday, June 28th.
Meanwhile, they return to league action this Saturday when they host Wembdon at the Lloyd and Whyte Cricket Ground, starting at noon.
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