Devon Cricket Board - Torquay go top of the table in Premier

Torquay go top of the table in Premier

TORQUAY went top of the table in the Premier Division with a seven-wicket win over Plymouth, who dropped back into the bottom two.
James Toms made a top score of 59, and Joe Hagan-Burt 34, in Plymouth’s not-enough total of 188 all out.
Mitch Pugh (70) and Matt Thompson (63) led Torquay’s victory charge with a stand of 108 as the Seasiders wrapped up victory with more than 10 overs to go.
Plymouth were third from bottom going into the latest round of fixtures, but fell back a place as Exeter went past them by winning at Exmouth.
The deficit is only seven points, which Plymouth will hope to do something about against fellow strugglers Paignton this Saturday.
Other than Toms and Hagan-Burt, who put on 57 for the second wicket, Plymouth’s batting performance was largely unremarkable.
When Toms got out, followed closely by Mike Simmers, Plymouth slumped from 87 for one to 102 for five.
And when Bertus Loots trapped Hagan Burt lbw, Plymouth were an unimpressive 119 for six.
Steve Luffman (28) and George Stephenson (18) added 42 for the seventh wicket, but when Luffman fell to Ryan Stevenson (3-29) it was downhill all the way to 188.
Stevenson mopped up the tail effectively. Pugh, Sach Galenhage (2-27) and Matt Petherbridge (2-32) all bowled effective spells.
Torquay got off to a 41-run start – Pugh and Jack Richardson (20) getting on with it – and were 149 for two when Pugh was caught and bowled by Mike Simmers they were 139 for two.
Thompson was well on his way to 63 by then and by the time Simmers winkled him out the target was 13 to win and the game over as a contest.
Sam Stein, the Plymouth skipper, said lack of runs was a problem, but no the only one.
“The pitch wasn't as good as it looked but we still should of scored more than 188,” said Stein.
“We had to re gig our batting line up as Jamie Walsh, our keeper, had to pull out early morning.
“We are looking ahead to this weekend which is Paignton at home.
“This is a massive game for us and we know we can come away with a good result.”
Torquay captain Justin Yau said” It was another good performance and we were pleased to have picked up another 20 points.
“It's so tight at the top we just need to keep picking up as many points as we can.
“Ryan finally got just rewards for the way he has bowled this year and everyone bowled and caught brilliantly.
“Peths and Sach bowled vital overs in the middle and Bertie's four-over burst during the power play can't be underestimated either- he was superb.
“We batted really well, everyone contributed and it was a great team performance.
“We will keep going one game at a time and we know it will be a big test next week against an Exeter side looking full of confidence.”

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