Somerset Cricket Club (Somerset Bridge won toss): Willow Cuts beat Somerset Bridge by seven wickets

Willow Cuts put their name back in the hat after comfortably seeing off Somerset Bridge in this Knockout Cup first-round contest between the Western Counties rivals.

Kavon Fubler and Micah Simons claimed seven wickets between them as visiting Bridge were dismissed for 111 after getting off to a promising start.

Cuts got their reply off to a shaky start before Deunte Darrell and Joseph Basden produced a match-winning 86-run partnership that carried the hosts across the line with 204 balls to spare.

“Bridge got some early wickets so it was a little pressure,” Dexter Basden, the Cuts coach, said.

“However, it was nothing those guys can’t handle and Deunte and Joseph brought us home, so we will take that win and move on to the next round.”

Bridge opted to take first strike and were nicely poised at 55 for two before they completely unravelled at the seam with their remaining wickets falling for 56 runs in 22 overs.

First change Fubler was the chief catalyst for the slide as he claimed four for 33 while seamer Simons took three for 32 and Joseph Basden two for 10.

Opener Shawn Riley (28) was Bridge’s top scorer with Joshua Gilbert (20), Khymai Richards (10) and Neil Thakur (18) the others in double figures.

Bridge made the early breakthrough to have Cuts in a spot of bother at 29 for three after Dwight Basden (5), Kamal Bashir (4) and Antonio Darrell (5) were dismissed cheaply.

However, that was as it got for the visitors as Darrell and Joseph Basden stopped the rot and powered Cuts to their target without further damage.

Darrell belted 45 from 34 balls with two sixes and four fours while Basden hammered an equally brisk 43 from 31 balls that included three sixes and two fours.

Gilbert led the Bridge bowling with two for 26.