Weston-super-Mare CC won by two wickets at home to Ilminster CC this weekend after an excellent bowling performance skittled the visitors for 185 runs and included three wickets in the first over from Dexter Trego.

Youngster Trego took full advantage of Weston’s decision to bat first by collecting a hat-trick of wickets across four balls in the first over of the game, whilst Shabel Ahmed dumbfounded Ilminster batters as he delivered 3 wickets for just 14 runs from his 10 overs.

Trego attacked the Ilminster openers, producing dot balls from his first two deliveries before skittling the wickets with his 3rdand 5th balls and then trapping the batsman for an LBW with his 6th.

His threepeat put Ilminster at 4-3 after one over as he and Lachie Bailey limited the run rate until Bailey struck for his wicket in the 12th over, to put the visitors at 54-4.

Trego, 3-43 from 10 overs, and Bailey, 1-39 from his 10, were replaced by Harvey Richards and Shabel Ahmed who continued the pressure to hold Ilminster to below 100 until the 24th over.

During that time Ahmed had taken the first of his 3-14 runs by catching Ilminster’s fifth batsman out with an LBW in the 20th and Richards joined the party with an LBW of his own in the 25th to get his 1-31 from 10 overs.

Three balls later Ahmed got his second via a Chris Davidson catch to halfway through the Ilminster innings before he secured his third wicket, again using the hands of Davidson, in the 34th over to put the visitors at 122-8.

Davidson, 1-24 from four, joined the attack late on and took his wicket in the 45th before Matt Knight, 1-31 from 3.3, took Ilminster’s final wicket to bowl Ilminster out for 185 runs in the 48th over.

Ilminster’s total was revised to 167 from 45 overs and Weston’s batters replied with a calm and consistent innings that saw multiple players contribute to the run score.

They started off quickly with openers Ahmed and Jack Press accelerating the total to 45 before Press was dismissed in the eighth over for 18.

Trego arrived at the crease and hit 12 runs and Bailey hit one before Ahmed was caught for 38 in the 18th over with Weston at 80-4.

Davidson then came into hit a team high 39 runs from 64 balls to settle the innings whilst Tahmid Ahmed added 18 and Knight 11 as Weston reached the required run total in the 43rd over, getting themselves the two-wicket win and all 20 league points.