15 hours ago
Cricket: All five Taunton Deane Saturday teams celebrate victory
Taunton Deane Cricket Club's first XI moved closer to promotion after a weekend of victories.
The weekend started with the Deane Diamonds playing Bridgwater Red Sox in the U19 cup semi-final on Friday, August 15.
Jonty Lusk and Jack Blackwell scored at a rate of more than two runs per ball, with Jonty retiring on 54 after hitting a six to the Deane clubhouse.
Captain Josh Cobb also passed the retirement mark, leaving Alex Chaffey and Benny Jessop to finish the innings at 229-3.
Bridgwater's response was strong, with Tom Fursland hitting four sixes and four fours in his 53.
However, they could not maintain the pace and ended on 153, 76 runs short.
The next day, Taunton Deane's first XI travelled to North Perrott, where an unbeaten century from Bhuvanesh Jayaraman led them to victory.
The Deane score was a worrying 49-4 in the 11th over and 97-6 at the halfway point, but a partnership of 122 between Jayaraman, who finished on 105 not out, and Sunil Lachit, who scored 65, took the final total to 242-8.
The Deane bowlers initially struggled but found their rhythm, curbing the Perrott run rate and taking regular wickets.
This left the Deane with two more wins needed to secure promotion.
The Deane second XI hosted the North Petherton first XI at the Convent Field.
The opposition was restricted to 208-7 by eight Deane bowlers.
The Deane response was dominated by Alfie Jaques, who hit 10 off the 33rd over to reach a century.
The thirds travelled to Winford to take on Shaftesbury Road first XI and powered past the target of 239 in the 31st over.
Harry Quirk took four wickets for 17 runs, and the Deane batting was equally impressive.
James Salt and Shafin Akhtar both scored 50s, but the player of the game was Dave Jessop with 83 from just 50 balls.
The fourths were at home to Yeovil thirds, who were limited to 137 by Matthew Hughes, who finished with figures of 4-20, and Neil Lane, who finished with figures of 3-34.
The Deane lost only two wickets in reaching the target.
The fifths also scored a memorable victory over the Wellington third XI, with Jack Monsey leading the way with 112.
Dilagha Armani was the pick of the bowlers, taking five wickets for 24 runs.
With the junior section now on its summer break, there were only two Deane games on Sunday.
The Deane Sunday T20 team were no match for the Taunton Indian XI, and the women's first XI played Cheltenham, who scored 294 from their 40 overs.
The Deane's response of 121 was dominated by Hannah Hughes' score of 41, who showed she retains all the qualities that make her such a good cricketer.
