Devon Cricket Board - Plymouth slow up against North Devon spinners

Plymouth slow up against North Devon spinners

PLYMOUTH skipper Sam Stein said there was not too much wrong with his side’s performance in the 28-run defeat by title chasers North Devon.
North Devon made 257 all out thanks to solid batting from openers Callum French (42) and Tom Ansell (77), topped up by Tom Allin (54) and Josh King (31) lower down.
Harry Ramsden’s half-century and numerous chip-ins, had Plymouth in contention at 176 for four with 12 overs to go.
Plymouth lacked the lower-order impetus Allin and King gave North Devon though and slowed to 229 all out with more than two overs to go.
“We bowled quite well on a good batting track, Harry Ramsden and Henry Bennett tying them down in the middle overs,” said Stein.
“We ended up 30 short but batted quite well until nearer the end we clogged up.”
The good news for Plymouth was their 10-point haul for maximum batting and bowling bonus points keeps them out of the bottom two.
The bad news is only a point separates the three sides – Plymouth, Paignton and Exeter – trying to avoid the second drop spot.
“It is very close in the table now, which makes things interesting,” said Stein.
French and Ansell put on 101 in 24 overs to give North Devon a solid start.
Max Curtis made 29, but with Ramsden (5-44) and Bennett (2-33) making regular breakthroughs, North Devon slowed to 166 for five with 10 overs to go.
Allin, whose 54 came off 35 balls, and King (25 balls) put on 64 in seven and half overs.
Hal Kerton – two overs for 30 – took some stick at the height of the onslaught.
Allin was last man out having been involved in stands worth 89 for the last four wickets.
Ramsden – 54 off 78 balls – was supported by Mike Simmers (30) and George Stephenson (33) as Plymouth reached 176 for four.
Kerton (26) went at 196 for seven and with him probably went Plymouth’s chance of winning.
Quintin Dreyer (3-37) just edged spinner French (3-40) for the North Devon bowling award.

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