Devon Cricket Board - Hatherleigh carry on climbing

Hatherleigh carry on climbing

HATHERLEIGH’S surge away from the A Division basement continued with a 40-run victory over visiting Paignton.
Andy Bennett gave Hatherleigh some lower-order impetus with a quick 45 off 28 balls as Hatherleigh notched 242 for nine.
Chris Jelley and Rob Fishleigh then took three wickets each as Paignton came up short on the chase.
Hatherleigh are now 18 points and two places clear of the drop zone, having won three of the last four.
Paignton have dropped from top to fourth in the space of three weeks, but are only seven points shy of Barton in second.
Dan Forester (38) and Jack Cherrington (33) gave Hatherleigh a 77-run start, but Paignton too the next four wickets for 20 runs as the brake went on.
Mark Lake (29) and Reece Davies (21) got things moving again the Bennett hursed the tail along, putting on 29 with Davies and 44 with Fishleigh.
Pick of the bowlers for Paignton with three or 45 was Cape Towner Mile Ekstrom, who joined the club last week.
Zubyar Hamza (64) made runs at the top for Paignton, but Ollie Higgs and Mark Smith both failed as Hatherleigh came out fighting.
Connor Bryan and Rob Shergold (35) shared stands of 51 and 55 with Hamza as the target was whittled down.
After Hamza went – the third wicket claimed by Fishleigh – Ekstrom kept the board ticking over.
But there wasn’t much from the lower order as Jelley and Lake worked their way through the tail, finishing with Ekstrom.
Hatherleigh skipper Lake said his team now had a taste for winning and were hungry for more.
“It was our best all-round team performance of the season and everyone contributed to the win, which was the best thing about the result,” said Lake.
“Andy Bennett and Rob Fishleigh both came up from the 2nds IX and made really good contributions.
“I think this result really shows we can mix it with the best in the division. Hopefully we can continue our good run with more positive results in the coming weeks.”
Paignton captain Connor Bryan said his team only had themselves to blame for the defeat.
“We lacked the cutting edge in our bowling and no one really took the responsibility when we were batting,” said Bryan.
“We felt the score was gettable although it should and would have been 60-70 less had we bowled better areas and taken our catches and run outs.
“Hatherleigh simply performed better on the day and worked well as a team. We will look to come back this weekend with a good win.”

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