A second half fight from the Frome bowlers wasn’t enough to save them as Wellington scraped to a three wicket victory in a relegation battle.
The visitors decided to bat first on what looked a good hard pitch, however this wasn’t to be the case. Wellington opening bowlers bowled tightly and got their rewards leaving Frome on the ropes early at 35-3 with Rimmle picking up all three wickets.
Shortly after the break Frome lost quick wickets with Dredge (10) and Smart (0) both being removed in the same over putting Wellington right on top with the score at 67-5.
Potter and Smith batted sensibly but Potter was dismissed for a well grafted 33. Smith (19) played some classy shots batting with the Frome tail but once again Frome lost wickets after getting themselves back into a position to put a reasonable total on the board as they fell from 112-6 to 115-9.
Mark Watts and captain Mark Sanger (13 not out) took the team over their first batting point before Sanger hit the only maximum of the game as Watts was finally caught for 10, but the 25 run last wicket partnership gave Frome a chance.
Wellington came out looking to score at a reasonable pace and put the game to bed early, however David Dredge removed opener Davies in the first over.
The hosts batted well with Captain Sparks leading the way but two magical balls from Neil Dredge made things interesting, first clean bowling Desave for 19 and next ball trapping Swartz L.B.W for 0 leaving Wellington 73-4.
The big wicket of Sparks (42) came with a fantastic bit of keeping from Smith, stumping him off a leg side wide from Watts and Frome were now well in the game with Wellington needing 30 to win with 4 wickets remaining.
The next partnership was to be the match winning partnership of 26 between Hendy and Moysey as they took the home side within 6 of victory before Mark Sanger removed Hendy for 18.
Moysey (5 not out) and Drew (4 not out) saw Wellington over the line with 3 wickets left.
The fight and passion showed by the Frome bowlers wasn’t enough to save them from what was a poor effort with the bat and have now left themselves in a very tricky position.
Frome host Wembdon at Fromefield next Saturday where they look to help their fight for survival, match starts at 1pm.
