Devon Cricket Board - Benton ton difference between sides

Benton ton difference between sides

EXMOUTH bounced back from their first day reverse against Heathcoat by sending Bovey Tracey spinning to a second successive defeat.
Seb Benton (pictured) piled up a quickfire ton – 104 off 87 balls with nine fours and three sixes – and Exmouth made 215 all out.
Along the way the former Devon left-hander shared stands of 33 with Bob Dawson (26), 48 with Richard Baggs (28) and 70 with Andy Buzza, whose job it was to prop up and end for 11 in the 32 minutes the pair were together.
Overseas pair Malcolm Lake (3037) and Nathan Roberts (4-35) had the only bowling figures of note.
Bovey were a long way behind on 128 for nine when their overs ran out – tied down from the start by Trevor Anning and Matt Webb (2-19) then whittled away by Ollie Dawe (2-33) and Gary Chappell (3-21).
In a patchy batting display skipper Andy Fairbairn stayed in for 86 minutes making 36 not out and Lake had a leisurely 31 off 62 balls. Only Roberts (14) reached double figures apart from Lake and Fairbairn.
Losing Matt Golding and Lake in the space of five balls left Bovey 45 for four after 17 overs and out of it. They closed on 128 for nine.
Exmouth skipper Baggs said the display was an improvement, but there remains plenty to do.
“To get 215 off 39 overs which had five interruptions for rain was a great effort,” said Baggs.
“Seb played superbly, but we keep getting stands of 40-ish then losing a wicket when we are looking good to push on.
“Bowling wise we were excellent all-round, especially Ollie Dawe, which was pleasing.
“We will look to build on that against Sandford this Saturday.”
Bovey skipper Fairbairn laid the blame for the defeat fairly and squarely on one player.
“The difference between the two teams was Seb Benton,” said Fairbairn.
“He batted extremely well for his 100 and he got it at a rate that would eventually put the game beyond us.
“It was a horrible day to play cricket with the constant rain breaks and howling wind, but the umpires managed the match well and both teams wanted to play as much as possible, which was good to see.
“Malcolm Lake bowled a superb spell and worked Bobby Dawson over before bowling him, which are good signs for the rest of the season.
“Nathan Roberts bowled very well at the death too.
“We are looking forward to playing Exeter next week for a another chance to kick start our season although we know it will be another very tough game.”

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