Saturday 26th September. WCCL Div. 26 Frome 2s 252-8 (45 overs) Winsley 253-9 (44.5 overs)
WINSLEY beat Frome 2s by 1 wicket.
Frome 2s came a whisker away from nicking the Wiltshire Covid Group title, however lost out in heart-breaking fashion in a thrilling final day encounter at Winsley. On an afternoon where the stakes were high in a winner-takes-all finale, the quality of cricket on show was fantastic, with the home side sneaking over the line with a ball to spare, to take the spoils.
A sunny but chilly afternoon began well for Frome, winning the toss and batting first on an excellent wicket. Despite the early loss of Leonard, Pinchen (27) and Unwin batted positively to put The Showmen on top with a 78-run stand. Despite a few wickets checking progress Unwin continued to flourish in a majestic knock of 85, finding support from the middle and lower order to power the score on.
Despite falling short of a deserved hundred, Barton (46*) continued to take the attack to Winsley – finding excellent support from Asim (16) at the back end of the innings. A brutal final over disappeared for 22 runs, to leave the Showmen strongly placed with 252-8 on the board at tea.
Winsley’s reply got off to a poor start as Cox castled the dangerous Hart and Asim pinned MacDougall LBW early on to leave the home side struggling at 19-2. Gerrish and Sherring attempted to rebuild, however both perished as The Showmen appeared to have gained the upper-hand at 77-4.
From a seemingly lost position, youngsters Walker (79) and Garrod (63) then combined in a superb 139-run partnership to turn the tide back Winsley’s way, punishing anything loose and running hard to leave the home side favourites, as the game entered the last 6 overs. With the light fading however, Walker finally holed out to a superb boundary catch from Cox, to leave the game in the balance at 217-5.
Despite Lewis perishing the following over, some big hitting from home skipper Strange appeared to have seen Winsley to safety – however a superb penultimate over from Asim (3-34) saw 3 wickets fall, to leave the home side 9 wickets down with 8 runs to win entering the final over. In near darkness with the tension mounting, the equation became 7 from 3 – Winsley needed a hero and number 11 Baxter duly launched a towering 6 over long-on to bring the scores level. A scrambled leg-bye then brought jubilant scenes as the home side eeked over the line by 1 wicket to take the title and break Frome hearts.
Despite the agony of coming so close, Frome can be proud of their efforts throughout the year. From the prospect of no cricket at all back in June, all the players have shown amazing commitment to take a season like no other down the final over. The improvements that the side have shown will stand them in good stead for a promotion push when Somerset Division 2 hopefully resumes in 2021.
