Devon Cricket Board - E Division - Pugh in sublime form

E Division - Pugh in sublime form

BABBACOMBE skipper Steve Broad gambled on batting first against Whimple despite the threat of bad weather and came up trumps with a 75-run win.

The Walls Hill pitch had been covered before the game and despite the forecast of rain Broad wanted to take advantage of a bone-dry surface.

“I wanted to play to our strengths this season of posting a score,” said Broad.

“If the rain came I knew the wicket would get damp and harder to bat on, the only thing we needed to be wary of was getting involved with a run-rate scenario so scoring 251 for six off 39 overs at least created some pressure on this front too.”

Opener Steve Porter got Babbacombe up and running with 33 and Andy Kingdon made a brisk 30.

The man of the moment with the bat was Mike Pugh, who shared in four big stands on his way to 121 not out.

“He was sublime and chance less and a master class for all watching in how to bat and build an innings,” said Broad.

“Mike timed his acceleration perfectly reaching his ton with two overs to go and hit several boundaries to boost our score and run rate at the end.”

Babbacombe’s bowling unit got off to a bright start when Tom Ince dismissed Henry Gordon-Lennox first ball with a one-handed catch off Dave Williams.

Whimple got to 95-2 before falling behind the clock, but held out on 175 for nine to deny Babbacombe all 20 points

There were good contributions from Kevin Thompson 25,Mike Searle 37, Steve Palfrey 24 and Richard Brown 45.

The wickets were shared between Williams (2-38), Matt Passmore (3-34) and Paul Bates (2-12).

YARCOMBE & Stockland claimed only their third victory of the E Division season as they thrashed visiting basement side Topsham St James by a whopping 152 runs.

Jon Rich top scored with 70 and Rex Helston hit 53 as the villagers were bowled out for 230.

That was far too many for the Tops to attack and they were bundled out for 78 with R Reed taking five wickets for just one run and Ben Fuzzard also claimed a fivefer, finishing with figures of 5-32.

Kilmington were three wicket winners at Kenn.

The home team won the toss and, much to the surprise of Kilmington skipper Hal Cook, opted to bat on a wicket that certainly did more for the bowlers than the batsmen!

Cook claimed four wickets for just 12 runs from his nine overs and there were a couple of wickets for Maurice Bevis as Kenn were restricted to 161-9.

Adam Culley (48) and Ralph Cook (39no) then led their side to an 18-point victory.

Cook said: “I would certainly have bowled first had I won the toss, so it suited us to bat second. Not that it got any easier to bat as the game wore on. I urged the batsmen to bat with patience and apply themselves and they did just that. Adam (Culley) and Ralph (Cook) both batted superbly.”

The win was sufficient to keep Kilmington in comfortable mid-table berth.

This Saturday they host Yarcombe and Stockland. Cook says: “It’s another 40-point game. If we don’t want to be dragged into a relegation scrap then we need to be beating Yarcombe. However, after they won on Saturday I am sure they will be just as keen to do a number on us.”

Upottery were denied action by a soggy surface at Bridestowe.

With everyone else playing it leaves the villagers sitting second bottom with half way in the campaign reached this coming Saturday.

It’s a visit from Kentisbeare to complete the first half of the league season.

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