Devon Cricket Board - Sandford keep clear of basement

Sandford keep clear of basement

SANDFORD kept some distance between themselves and the wrong end of the A Division table when they defeated Barton by 41 runs at Cricketfield Road.
Sandford were limited to 175 for eight, which was a better score than it looked on the day.
Barton captain Adam Parker had Sandford under the cosh when he was bowling, taking four for 14 from 10 overs as they struggled to 96 for five.
Sandford had been 90 for two – Adrian Small (30) the anchorman – then lost three wickets in hurry,
A stand of 51 between Ash Baker (30) and Brian Leach (26), detained Barton for 13 overs and got the score up to 165 for seven with two overs to go.
Barton’s innings was almost a mirror image of Sandford’s as they were 86 for six in the 21st over having lost wickets steadily to Jamie Palmer (3-24), Prince Masvaure, Leach and a run out.
Opener Will Grainger made 22 and Mark Gilmour 31, but there wasn’t much from the rest.
Aqeel Ahmed (30) marshalled the tail as well as he could, but only Adrian Hewings (13) offered any support.
Tom Williams and Russ Discombe collected two wickets each as Barton were bowled out for 134 in the 37th over.
With Bradninch and Tavistock below them both winning, Sandford needed a win themselves to stay away from the bottom two.
Skipper Palmer said it was a good win against a side who inevitably play their own conditions well.
He added: “I felt 175 was a very good score on a tough batting surface.
“Brian Leach and Ash Baker’s 51-run partnership for the seventh-wicket late on was absolutely crucial to us posting a good total – it's what we have been failing to do in previous games.
“We then bowled and fielded with good discipline and finished the job off well.
“This is a timely win as we look to start pushing away from the bottom two and towards the top half of the table.”
Adam Parker said Barton made life hard for themselves with a patch performance in the field – and some of the batsmen need to ask themselves a few questions.
“Our bowling was ok, but we did not support the bowlers well at all in the field,” said Parker.
“We gave away too many runs in the field, dropped two key catches and missed a couple of run-outs.
“Potentially, the catches and run outs would have made for a different result.
“Batting wise we never got started.
“Sandford’s openers bowled well and just waited for us to make a mistake which we did.
“All we needed was a bit of application and we would have been ok.
“All our batters need to improve their shot selection so we can get back on track.”

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