AN impressive all-round performance saw Minehead return to winning ways on Saturday with a comprehensive 127-run win over visitors Street in the Premier Division of the Somerset League.

They elected to bat first and got off to a flying start as openers Braden Taylor and in particular Ian Buchanan were quick to punish any loose bowling.

They had taken the score to 69 by the time Taylor was bowled by P Linter for 14, and just two balls later the in-form Alastair Harrison was dismissed LBW without troubling the scorer.

That brought Dan Bowditch to the crease to accompany Buchanan, who clocked up a typically fluent 50 as the two rotated the strike and cashed in on some poor deliveries and inexcusable fielding.

Some big overs followed and Bowditch also passed fifty as the two piled the pressure on, and Buchanan was soon raising his bat to the sizeable home crowd for his second ton of the season.

Some more lusty blows from the pair going into the last ten overs took them to a partnership of 169 before Buchanan was caught at wide mid-on for 129 off 130 balls, having hit 18 fours.

Bowditch met his demise an over later, clean bowled for 65, but Bradley Martin and Freddie Wilson continued the onslaught in the last five overs, with the former striking three boundaries in his 26 as Minehead reached 279-6 form their allotted overs.

The Street reply got off to a slow start as Ellis Taylor kept the batsmen quiet with some characteristic tight bowling, and he was well assisted by Jack Sully who claimed the first wicket of the innings, clean bowling opener Hill with an exquisite in-swinging yorker for 19.

Taylor then had Wall well caught at slip for seven and J Linter caught from a short delivery for just one, leaving the visitors facing an uphill battle at 36-3.

Captain Western and no 4 Trotman set about kick-starting a counter attack, and with a mixture of aggressive stroke play and good running they added 65 before the introduction of Martin brought the end of Trotman, caught behind for 37.

Buchanan then accounted for P Linter for just two, and when Martin had Western caught on the boundary for 43 it looked as if the Street chase was a lost cause at 126-6.

And so it proved as Martin (3-13) and Buchanan (4-37) cleaned up the rest of the tail to give Minehead maximum points, cutting the gap on league leaders Cheddar to just 13.

Minehead will look to capitalise on their good form when they host fellow promotion chasers Temple Cloud tomorrow (Saturday).