Devon Cricket Board - Devon on top at end of day two

Devon on top at end of day two

DAY TWO AT MARCH TOWN CC + CHRIS BRADLEY PODCAST + SCORECARD + DAY ONE

DEVON gained a significant advantage to take into day three by dominating the final session yesterday of the Minor Counties play-off game against Cambridgeshire at March Town CC, writes Conrad Sutcliffe

It had been even-stephen right from the early start at 10 – allowed under the rules to get back time lost to rain on day one – up to tea.

Both sides found runs hard to come by, wickets had to be earned and the way things were going it looked likely Devon may have a small deficit going into the second innings.

Devon had two big overs before bad light stopped play in time added on for rain on the first day, which may prove crucial in the context of the game.

Skipper Chris Bradley, unable to bowl effectively due to an ankle injury, brought David Lye (pictured) into the attack and he quickly picked up two wickets as 132 for four became 132 for six in four balls.

Mike Pateman missed a straight one them Lewis Bruce was cut in half by a ball that nipped back alarmingly.

The second round of breakthroughs came in an over from Scott Barlow that accounted for top scorer Nick Ferraby (72) and running mate Paul Summerskill (16) who had put on 43 together.

Ferraby got a ball that jagged into him and was trapped in front while Summerskill was run out by a senseless call from new man in Joe Barrs, who hit a Barlow full-toss to Craig Overton in the covers, which was returned poste haste to keeper Matt Thompson.

Cambridge captain Paul McMahon would have been relieved when the umpires called time with his side on 179 for eight, still 49 runs behind on first innings.

In what looks like being a low-scoring match, Devon will want to preserve as much of that deficit as they can by knocking over the tail-enders sharpish today.

To end up 49 runs ahead after having middle-order collapse that saw five wickets go for 42 runs was quite a turnround for Devon.

After Rob Woodman (67) and David Lye (49) battled hard before lunch, taking their stand to 69 for the fourth wicket, it all went pear shaped as the impressive McMahon (5-53) spun through the middle order.

The one wicket that eluded McMahon was that of Thompson, who yet again showed what a handy cricketer he is to have around.

Thompson – an opener for Torquay – came in at sixth wicket down and batted through for an unbeaten 33.

The well-organised left-hander managed to wring 67 runs out of the bottom half off the order, which in a low-scoring match could be priceless.

“Thommo comes in with a game plan, he looks for gaps to hit the ball into and he sticks to it,” said Devon’s director of cricket Roger Newman.

“Rob Woodman and David Lye batted fantastically well, but losing five for 42 took the shine off a bit and without Thommo and the tail enders we would have been lucky to get 200 or a lead.”

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