Devon Cricket Board - E Division - Babbacombe batters fail to deliver

UPOTTERY gave their hopes of staying in the E Division a big boost as they thumped the only side to sit below them in the table, Yarcombe & Stockland by 84 runs.

Batting first it was a magnificent unbeaten century from Adam Pullman that under pinned the Upottery innings that eventually closed on 277-8 with Pullman not out 114.

It was Pullman ’s maiden ton for the club, and he served up a superb display from first delivery received to the conclusion of the innings.

Matthew Button-Stephens provided the best of the supporting acts with his knock of 40.

Jon Rich (32) and Ben Reed (30) made the best of the Yarcombe offerings in a total of 193 all out.

A measure of just how impressive the all-round nature of the Upottery performance was that five different bowlers each bagged a brace of wickets!

Upottery skipper Matt Frost said: “That’s just what the doctor ordered. Hopefully this will kick-start our season of which there’s enough left to make sure we stay in the division. Adam’s innings was special and we were all delighted for him when he got to 100. I always felt that our score was ample and so it was just a case of then trying to bank maximum points with a decent bowling display and we delivered that also!”

Next up Upottery entertain Whimple. Frost says: “They are flying at the moment and will be really tough opponents, but I’d like to think the Yarcombe win has lifted everybody’s spirits and we’ll take renewed confidence into the coming games.

"We do still have to play Bridestowe, Topsham St James and Kenn at home after the Whimple match amongst what will then be our remaining six matches, so have our fate firmly in our own hands.”

BABBACOMBE entertain Kilmington this Saturday keen to get back on track after a 54-run reversal at Whitchurch.

The Wayfarers are one of the teams chasing leaders Babbacombe a t the top of the table so the result isn’t that much of a shock.

However, it was the manner of defeat which irritated skipper Steve Broad more than losing the match.

“At one stage it looked like we might be able to keep them below 200 but some inconsistent bowling and average fielding allowed them probably 30 too many,” said Broad.

“We started well - losing our second wicket at 103 - but for the only time this season our middle order didn't fire and we lost wickets at regular intervals.

“In an uncharacteristic manner, too many of our top seven batters got out playing poor shots.

“This may have been the result of a bit of score board pressure and tidy bowling, but I would have backed the experience we have to deal with that.

“We need to bounce back now and get some momentum going for a few weeks again like we did at the start of season.”

Broad (3-49) and Paul Bates (3-19) contained Whitchurch until Ben Watson (55) got going.

A knock by young Charlie Barriball of 61 in a partnership of 59 with Martyn Credicott (30no) saw Whitchurch up to 248-8.

Andy Kingdon had been and gone for 33 when Jake Hands (50no) was second out at 103.

Wickets fell steadily after that as Babbacombe subsided to 193 all out.

WHIMPLE powered to their eighth E Division win of the season with a massive 164-run win at home to Kenn.

Kev Thompson hit an imperious unbeaten 116, carrying his bat from first delivery to last as Whimple rattled up a whopping 307-4.

Chris Palfrey continued his great form and followed up with him previous weeks fine knock in his first game back since a spell at Feniton with an innings of 91 hitting 14 fours and blasting four 6s and Matt Brown chipped in with a hard hitting 36, all hit inside the last five overs.

Kenn then had no answer to the Whimple fire power as Phil Hope whipped out six of the visiting batsmen for just 29 runs as the reply floundered with the final wicket falling on 143.

Whimple skipper Ben Silk said: “I had wanted to declare to try for the extra two points but we were only on 247 and I felt that with it clearly being such a good surface to bat on we’d forgo the extra points to make sure we posted a match winning total. Results elsewhere have set things up nicely and, for me, the target now is dead straight forward. All we have to do is win our last seven games and we will go up as champions and that’s something I am very keen to happen!”

A third defeat for leaders Babbacombe, beaten by 54-runs by Whitchurch means that Whimple are now one of three teams to all have lost just three times this season and sit in the top three berths.

Babbacombe stay top with 183 points, Whitchurch are second on 179 and Whimple sit third on 178.

On Saturday Whimple travel to second bottom Upottery.

Silk says: “Given that we play Whitchurch the week after this one at Upottery is a must-win encounter for us. I appreciate it will not be an easy fixture and they (Upottery) will be buoyed by their win over Yarcombe. However, we have a job to do to reach that target I have set and I expect us to go to Upottery and do the business.”

KILMINGTON banked maximum points with a four-wicket success at home to Bridestowe.

It’s a result that leaves the villagers suiting fourth in the E Division, just 27 points behind second placed Whitchurch.

The visitors batted first and were restricted to 208 with Hal Cook claiming 4-44 and Ben Noble taking 3-43.

Tom Gooding then stroked his way to an excellent unbeaten 72 as Kilmington got home with wickets and overs to spare.

It was also a good day for Kilmington II as they edged into second place in the D Division (East) table thanks to a 65-run win at Shobrooke Park II.

Skipper Ash Cook top scored with 58 and Luke Baker hit an unbeaten 53 and John Lavender chipped in with 36 in a total of 222-4.

James Lambert and Charlie Potter each then claimed three wickets as the Mid Devon side were bundled out for just 157.

Topsham St James defied the odds with a 38-run last wicket partnership between Dan Armstrong and Joe Mcshane to defeat Kentisbeare.

Dan Armstrong opened up well taking a wicket in his first over, caught by Nick Crew at point.

Chis Horne, marking his return for the Saints, bowled with excellent control up the hill, making the batsmen play at balls they wanted to leave. At the end of his 9 overs he had claimed two wickets for only 16 runs.

Kentisbeare scored fairly freely. Treleaven snagged a wicket up the hill after Nick Horne had taken a good return catch off his own bowling.

Armstrong returned down the slope to finish his allotted overs picking up the wicket of Steven Reed thanks to Chris Horne’s onehanded catch on the fence.

Horne held another off Armstrong’s bowling to remove Andrew Chave and, with an LBW and another catch behind the stumps by Thomlinson, Armstrong finished with 5-42 in Kents’ 219 for nine.

Charlie Penn started the run chase strongly with 15 runs off his first 16 balls. On his 17th he was out lbw; this was after Nick Horne had fallen to a good Yorker for 4.

Thomlinson and Treleaven staged part of a comeback until Thomlinson pushed at one and was caught behind and Treleaven threw his wicket away being caught at mid-on.

Crew built a solid partnership with Chris Horne, and both were looking untroubled before Crew feathered one behind and Chris Horne picked out a man on the fence.

Matt Williams was caught by the bowler after being caught in two minds, and Jim Shepherd and Ed Baxter were bowled with Yorkers from Chave.

Mcshane and Armstrong were left at the crease with 38 runs to get, but both batsman belied their young years and frequently found the middle of the bat.

Armstrong sensibly blocked out the final over from Chave and, as the last over approached, eight runs were required.

A no-ball helped get the target down and with two balls left the scores were level. Armstrong tapped the last ball and the pair raced through for Topsham’s third win in as many games.

Skipper Treleaven heaped praise on his tail-end heroes, but was less complimentary about his specialised batsmen.

“Full credit to Mcshane and Armstrong as they came out to bat when we didn’t really have a chance and they stayed calm and hit the bad balls well,” said Treleaven.

“Armstrong had a day to remember with his five wickets in the bag.

“However I’m very frustrated with the higher-order batsmen, myself very much included. “Everyone except the openers had a chance to get in but threw it away. “On a batting track like Topsham’s we didn’t need to try and score off every ball and just needed to bide our time. “I’m hoping we can learn from this because we can’t always rely on our tail to get us out of trouble.”