Wellington met North Petherton for the third time in T20 form this season when then played at Heathfield Park in the Second Round of the Somerset Cricket Board’s Major Knockout Cup last Thursday evening in a game that had been postponed several times due to the poor recent weather and the wicket was still suffering at the time of the toss and so this became a sixteen overs per side game.

Arron Campbell opted to ask Petherton to bat first on winning the toss and he saw his bowlers deliver as six were employed and all did a fine job for the Red and Blacks.

It was the skipper himself who took up the attack with Luke Desave, who is in a rich vein of form at this time, as spin and seam led the way to reduce Petherton to 24-5 as Desave captured 4-11 in three overs; there was one wicket for Campbell.

Sam Whitefield bowled well in mid innings and Will Derrick captured middle order and lower middle order wickets as only Lloyd Irish with 14, Ali Asif with 14 and Scott Briffett with 11no made it to double figures for Petherton with Neil Hendy and Jack Beal closing out the innings for Wellington.

Wellington would need 71 to win in 16 overs and it was going to be no easy task per se as the weather was still leading the pace of the wicket.

Wellington were at one point 18-5 and 71 looked a long way off as Ali Asif claimed 3-13 in four overs, but a neat stand of 23 for the sixth wicket between Luke Desave and Oli Beale gave Wellington a foothold back in the game and so hope sprung once more.

When Beale was out stumped for a well made 13 it was Lewis Sparks who joined Desave and they saw Wellington home with no further loss and one over to spare as they made 26no and 15no respectively and this saw the Red and Blacks over the line and into the Quarter Finals where they will travel to WEPL Premier One side Bridgwater in a repeat of 2017’s tie at this stage of this Competition.

Wellington and Petherton will meet for a fourth time in two months at the end of June when they meet at Wellington in WEPL’s Somerset Division.