Devon Cricket Board - Tail enders lash ton between them as Devon suffer

Tail enders lash ton between them as Devon suffer

DEVON saw the initiative slip away from them either side of tea on day one of the Minor Counties Championship game against Cornwall at Exeter.
Cornwall were on the back foot for most of the first two sessions – and at one stage were heading for a sub-200 total.

When Devon had Cornwall on the ropes they lacked the killer punches to finish them off – and the defending Minor Counties Champions made the best of that let off.

Having been 161 for seven the tail-enders put on103 to keep Devon out in the field far longer than they had hoped.

Just to rub it in, last man Sam Hockin smacked 11 fours on his way to a top score of 55 before Matt Golding bowled him.

“When we had the chance to finish them off we didn’t take it,” said Devon team manager Keith Donohue.

“We bowled and fielded pretty well until about half an hour before tea, but then let Cornwall take the initiative off us.

“Looking at the pitch and the fast outfield, had you offered me Cornwall all-out for 264 at 11 o’clock, I would have taken it.

“In hindsight we ought to have done better, but you have to give some credit to Cornwall for the way they batted down the order.”

Cornwall went into the field with their tails up and had Devon 29 for three in the 12^th over last night.

Seb Benton and Josh Bess got their heads down to see Devon to 61 for three at the close, a deficit of 203 to take into day two.

Trevor Anning had made the initial breakthrough, trapping Cornwall opener Matt Robins lbw for 15.

Dan Davis was next in and next out – comfortably caught at point by Golding off the bowling of Bess.

Taylor Williams was in and out without troubling the scorers, perhaps a little unluckily.

Bess gave Williams some width outside the off-peg, but the Cornish batsman flailed at it and dragged the ball on to his own stumps.

That left Cornwall 45 for three in the 12^th over after skipper Tom Sharp won the toss and opted to bat first.

Cornwall could not afford to lose another wicket before lunch and got their intact thanks to surviving opener Scott Harvey and Neil Curnow.

Cornwall were 97 for three from 32 overs at lunch, but their problems started soon after the restart.

Devon pacer Mark Orchard was getting some bounce operating from the Pavilion End and struck Curnow a heavy blow on the hand.

Curnow was unable to continue and was taken to the nearby Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital for an x-ray on the injury, thought to be a broken wrist.

Skipper Sharp came out next, but with only two runs added he was caught in the cordon by Rob Holman off Orchard.

Christian Purchase played his shots in a brief knock of 21, which could easily have ended before it did.

Purchase let his head rule his heart when Anning gave him plenty of room outside the off-stump and played a horrible waft as the ball went past.

Purchase got just enough under edge on the ball to encourage Devon keeper Matt Thompson to dive to his right to scoop up the catch.

A clearly disappointed Purchase trudged off swishing his bat in frustration.

Tom Hughes came out to bat with Cornwall 139 for five.

Cornwall’s problems worsened when next man in Tom Hughes shouldered arms to Anning, who got the ball to jag back into the pads and got the inevitable lbw verdict.

Harvey was on 45 in a total of 147 for six, then moved within one run of a 50 by sweeping Chris Bradley for four.

Harvey finally reached his 50, but perished soon after. Bradley tempted him to slog across the line, but turned the ball past the bat to bowl the former Suffolk player.

Kelvin Snell made 29 and put on 37 with Shakil Ahmed at the other end.

Snell got a bit excited trying to smash Mark Orchard and got a snick through to Devon keeper Matt Thompson as he ran down the wicket.

Shakil didn’t last much longer. He flicked at a width ball best left alone from Josh Bess and went caught behind as well.

That left last man Hockin and walking wounded Curnow to do what they could. A partnership of 57 for the last wicket wasn’t a bad effort. Curnow added five to his previous 27 with Hocking making the rest.

It seemed the faster Devon tried to bowl the further Hockin hit it. It was the turning ball that did him, Matt Golding taking his first wicket for Devon with a leg-spinner chucked up around driving length as a tempter.

Cornwall 264 (S C Hocking 55, S A Harvey 50, N S Curnow 32no; J J Bess 3-41, T S Anning 3-47), Devon 61-0 (S R Benton 19no).

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