Nailsea CC continued their season in the Bristol and District Cricket League with a tough five wicket home loss against Bedminster’s 4th XI, during which they lost four batsmen for ducks.

The game looked like it could be over before it had barely begun when Nailsea opened the batting and were rapidly reduced to 6-2 in the fourth over and then 11-4 in the 7th, courtesy of three scoreless wickets falling.

Rob Lange then hit 16 runs before he was dismissed along with another duck, bringing in Jack Smith and captain James Taylor.

The pair put on an almighty stand, scoring 51 and 45 runs respectively, and faced 143 balls between them as they attempted to drag their team out of the mud.

They took the team to 143-8 until their dismissals and their teammates added a few more runs until they were bowled out for 150 runs in the 39th over.

Strong bowling and good fielding from Nailsea helped keep Bedminster’s run rate low.

Peter Hardcastle, Ian Sherreard, and Taylor reduced Bedminster to 48-3, followed by two wickets from Smith, but the Bedminster middle order helped take them past the 150 mark in the 38th over, handing Nailsea the five wicket loss.