Corsham 244-7, Bath 242-9 (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Corsham 244-7, Bath 242-9

Premier One - Corsham skipper Neil Shardlow hailed the best display of the season as Peter Dennett's century resigned Bath to yet another Station Road defeat on Saturday.

Dennett was the star of the show, hitting 11 fours and three sixes as he made 101 off just 117 balls.

The result has left Corsham virtually sure of their survival in Premier One and now Shardlow has sent down the gauntlet to his troops to finish third in the table.

"At Corsham we have won five and had a losing draw by five runs in the other game," said the skipper.

"If only we had put in some good results away from home we would have been in the mix for the title.

"Cheltenham and Bristol are two games that stick out which we should have won.

"Now it's time to look at the players and a couple of younger ones in the seconds and see what they can do.

"In the last few weeks we have had a settled side and we have had three spinners with dry wickets that has paid dividends.

"If we win this weekend we may go into the top three or four and then we will have to battle to stay there."

Shardlow was confident of victory over his side's local rivals as Bath have not won at Station Road in recent years.

He said: "I am over the moon with the weekend's result. We have a bit of a voodoo on Bath at home at the moment.

"I know they held meetings last week about how they were going to approach the game but obviously that has not come off and the guys have played some good cricket.

"They cannot beat us at our place and I think it was a tough decision for Bath to bat first because in the past they have been chasing down a total.

"I think we bowled well. Our spinners came into the game and were quite crucial with how the game went forward.

"Every single bowler bowled tight lines and took wickets at vital stages of the game.

"To be fair Pete Dennett, Richard Foley and Steve Nicholls have batted superbly in a big chase as well.

"There was a little bit of pressure at the end because we lost silly wickets as we chased but we won and that is what matters."

Bath started poorly as Corsham reduced them to 34-3 with openers Robin Lett (5) and Kim Watson (9) dismissed along with Tom Hankins (5).

Bath skipper Ben Staunton put in a captain's innings, hitting 71 alongside Peter McGlashan (42) as their partnership blossomed to 67.

Wickets did not fall quickly once McGlashan was bowled but consistently as Bath hit 242 runs, perhaps 20 more than they should have been allowed to.

For Corsham Steve Silk (1) was run out early on but an 82-run stand between Dennett and Foley (30) and a 107-run partnership between Dennett and Nicholls (65) helped Corsham towards their total.

Toby Sharpe, who had earlier taken 3-61, hit the winning runs as Corsham cemented their position in the league and closed the gap on the teams above them. Corsham travel to Taunton on Saturday, who currently sit one place above them in the table.