Wellington Sunday XI – with a side whose average age was 18 – took their older and more experienced opposition all the way on Sunday when, despite falling to a five wicket home defeat to WEPL Somerset Division side Street, they showed much resilience and robustness in the field and this bodes well going forward.
 
On winning the toss Steve Symons opted to bat first and his side were blown apart by the opening over from Ward who took a hat-trick in what was only the second over of the Wellington innings and at 4-3 the Red and Blacks were rocking, Ward added a fourth wicket in his third over and at 10-4 the home side’s innings was on the rocks.
 
Michael Gill joined opener Max Capaldi – who had held firm while wickets were tumbling at the other end – and added 75 excellent runs for the fifth wicket.
 
Gill played well for 27 at a time when the very dry pitch was still doing much for the useful Street attack and he played a fine hand as Capaldi grew in stature as he made a capital 91 for his side – it was not just that he made it to within nine runs of a second Sunday XI century of the season, but he saw off a brute of an opening spell from Crees who used his height to get awkward bounce from the pitch and his was the innings that gave Wellington a decent score in the end.
 
Paul Short glided the ball around the field well for 22 before been caught in the deep and in the end Wellington were all out for 177 on the stroke of tea.
 
Street made steady progress against Michael Gill and Patrick Jarman who opened up for Wellington with the breakthrough coming when Jarman got R.Hill to fence at one and give James Bath an easy catch behind the sticks.
 
From this point Higgs with 60 and T.Hill with 45 crafted a partnership that saw Street move steadily towards the Wellington total – Paul Short bowled a testing spell of off spin and got good response from a surface that was now taking lots of turn at both ends, Alex Troake with his leg spinners was a handful too and although Jake Nichol, Aaron Chugg and Will Hinchcliffe kept Wellington in the game until the end when Cox hit four, four and six in three balls the visitors had their first Sunday win at Wellington since 2004.
 
The team are next in action in a home friendly match with Trull on Sunday 1st August.