WEPL Premier One

Corsham 245-2 beat Bridgwater 244 by eight wickets

MICHAEL Coles returned to haunt his former club with a stunning knock of 150 as Bridgwater slumped to an eight wicket defeat at Corsham.

The former Bridgwater captain smashed 12 fours and 12 sixes in his 106-ball innings to fire Corsham to their target of 245 inside 40 overs.

Earlier, Merv Hallaran (57) and Robbie Montgomery (49) had gotten Bridgwater off to a flying start, but the innings stalled somewhat in the latter stages and they were eventually bowled out with 17 balls remaining.

And the second half was all about Coles, who raced through the gears in style to make light work of the Bridgwater bowling and ensure an early finish at Station Road.

Openers Hallaran and Montgomery raced along to 69 in just ten overs before Montgomery was well caught at short fine leg for a brutal 49 off 30 balls.

Debutant Ben Coombes joined Hallaran and looked comfortable at the crease, until he was run out on a free hit by Corsham captain Peter Dennett.

Hallaran and Mitch Windsor moved the score to 123 from 22 overs before Hallaran was LBW for a well-made 57. As the wicket began to turn sharply, the Bridgwater middle order struggled to maintain the fast pace set by the openers, all getting starts but then not being able to push on.

The steady flow of wickets halted Bridgwater’s progress as they made it to 197-8 and an under-par score was looking likely.

However Aussie Cam Williams had other ideas, and with a flurry of elegant strokes dragged the score up to 244 all out, as he was stranded on 41 from 24 balls, with three towering sixes.

But things could have been very different for Bridgwater, who will rue dropping Coles first ball.

No bowler was spared by the Wiltshire captain as Corsham eased towards the target, with a mixture of brute force and timing.