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DEVON'S dream's of Lord's were dashed for another season as they went crashing out of the Minor Counties KO Cup by eight wickets to Dorset at Sidmouth.

   A middle-order collapse saw Devon tumble from 152 for four to 158 for seven and at that stage they were struggling just to use all 50 of their overs.

   They didn't even get close to competing them as, after a brief revival from Andy Procter and Trevor Annning, the last three wickets all fell on 179 – and there were still more than eight overs to come.

   As targets go it was well within Dorset's reach and they cruised home on the back of a 140-run stand between Glyn Treagus and Tom Webley.

   Treagus, who offered a difficult chance to Neil Hancock at slip in the first over from Ian Bishop, finished unbeaten on 99 and by rights should have had a century.

   But, when he was 17 short of his ton and Dorset needed 19 to win, team-mate Darren Cowley smacked a straight six into the nearby croquet lawns which made the maths of scoring a ton almost impossible.

   That didn't stop Treagus having a go though. He got to 95 with a four off David Court which levelled the scores and left one option: a six to win and bring up his ton the same time.

   The next ball down was short of a length and Tregus threw everything he had at it more in hope than expectation. Unhappily for Treagus his shot was another four – the 21 st he hit during his 133-ball stay.

   Webley, released by Somerset two years ago but still hopeful of forcing his way back into the First Class game, was the other principle run getter for Dorset with 56 in his stand with Treagus.

   By the time Procter got him out caught behind trying to sweep, the writing was on the wall anyway.

   Dorset's only other casualty was opener Matt Swarbrick, a former Devon League players with Sandford and Torquay, who was gloved a catch behind off Ian Bishop in the second over.

   Bishop bowled five overs before hobbling off with a leg injury, which did Devon no favours, although they hadn't done themselves too many before then.

   The first rule of 50-over cricket is to bat your overs and Devon failed miserably on that score. There were too many forgettable ways of getting out, which generally included poor shot selection rather than great bowling, and a lack of application when things weren't going right.

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