South secured victory from the penultimate ball of the match in a nail-biting encounter at Ipplepen CC.

South won the toss and asked East to bat first, a decision which looked fully justified as a hostile first over from Szymanski reduced the visitors to 3/2. Causey then trapped Bovey LBW and Szymanski knocked over Fanous to put the East in deep trouble at 16/4 after 6 overs.

If East were to muster a competitive total they needed someone to bat big and Tom Lammonby was just the man. The Devon left-hander remained calm as wickets tumbled around him and he went on to secure his half-century before finally playing-on to Causey for a superb 58. No the batsman from the East got close to double figures, although the bowlers will be disappointed to gift 47 extras – the majority in wides.

Needing just over 3 an over for victory, South got off to a steady start with Senior and Holland putting on 35 for the 1^st wicket. South continued to make solid if unspectacular progress as Senior finally departed for a useful 18 leaving Causey and Szymanski to break the back of the run chase with a stand of 41 for the 3^rd wicket.

However after Szymanski holed out to a great catch by Abrahams, South struggled to find a partner for Causey and some tight bowling by Parker and Williams began to put pressure on the required run-rate.

Eventually the South’s last man Pitman showed great calmness and technique to see off a final over from the dangerous Lammonby, and Causey was able to conjure the winning run with just 2 balls of the match remaining.