Devon Cricket Board - Chasers refuse to abandon hope

PREMIER DIVISION

PLYMPTON skipper Andy Walter said there were no excuses he could offer after the 10-wicket defeat at Sidmouth which dropped the Harewood House outfit back in the relegation bottom two.

Plympton collapsed from a promising 107 for three to 129 all out as Miles Dalton (4-21) spun a spell over the middle and lower order. Four wickets fell on 120 and one on 121, which sealed Plympton’s fate.

Sidmouth openers Anthony Griffiths (55no) and Josh Bess (63no) took just 18.1 overs to knock off the runs.

Bess didn’t mess about as he took Craig Donohue for 21 in his one and only over, which included a no-ball smashed for six which counted seven, not something you see in scorebooks too often.

Defeat drops Plympton two points behind Heathcoat in the scrap to avoid going down with doomed Paignton.

Water said Sidmouth are a good side, but his own team failed to perform anywhere near their capabilities.

“We played against a good side on a good batting track and didn’t make use of it,” said Walter.

“Having been 38 for three in the early stages, it was always going to be a up hill struggle. “Dan Robotham (29) and Chris Bunney (37) batted well to take the score past the 100 mark and with 16 overs to go we were 117 for three.

“We then lost our last six wickets for nine runs which isn't good enough, and neither was no batting out our overs.

“No way was 129 enough. We bowled too short or too full and the openers punished us.

“The only guy who did do well with the ball was Ryan Skinner.

“We now have six big games coming up, starting this Saturday against Paignton.”

Sidmouth skipper Will Murray knows catching North Devon won’t be easy, but he hasn’t abandoned hope just yet.

“This was one of our best performances bowling and fielding for a while and shows what we can do,” said Murray.

“Plympton started well, but we exerted control in the middle overs by bowling well.

“If we carry on playing like this then we can push North Devon all the way to the end.”

COULD do better was Exmouth skipper Richard Baggs’ verdict on the five-wicket win over Paignton.

Paignton were all out for 199 – Tom Field making a maiden half century – then Andy Buzza hit an unbeaten 57 to see Exmouth home.

Derby dates against Budleigh and Sidmouth on the next two Saturday’s will be a tougher test.

“It was a hard-fought game and we had some luck,” admitted Baggs.

“We aren’t playing very well and need to improve a lot if we are going to get much from next two games.”

Paignton are having a tough time at the moment, not just because they are 47 points adrift at the bottom of the table but also because their chairman died last week.

A minute’s silence was observed by players and spectators before the game started. Both teams played with black ribbons on their shirts as a mark of respect.

Paignton were bowled out for 199 in the last of their 50 overs with Tom Field striking a maiden Premier Division half-century.

Connor Bryan (22) and Seb Benton (24) got in and got out before going on to a big score, George Benton hit 20 and Calum Stanley was 24 not out at the end.

The wickets were shared around with three each for David Lye (3-46) and George Greenway (3-43).

Exmouth lost opener Richard Arnold cheaply, but a stand of 81 between Barney Huxtable (33) and David Lye (42) got the chase going.

Skipper Baggs made 23 but it was Andy Buzza with an unbeaten 57 who saw Exmouth home.

PLYMOUTH are back in business in the Premier Division and on course for the top three after beating Bovey Tracey by six wickets at Mount Wise.

The city side were due a win after going two matches without one, but Bovey were a side on a roll with six on the trot under their belts and 117 points from the last 120 on offer.

Charlie Hill (4-26) and Matt Hooper (2-18), aided by three run-outs, helped hasten Bovey’s demise for 126.

After one or two scares along the way – Plymouth were 22 for three – Doug Hewitt and Jake Luffman sorted things out with a match-clinching stand of 63.

Victory took Plymouth away from the bottom four while Bovey drop from second to fifth.

Only 25 points separate Plymouth from third-placed Budleigh, which skipper Callum Whittaker believes is bridgeable.

“It was a huge win in the context of the season,” said Whittaker.

“Had we lost we could have been in a real battle at the bottom, but this win puts us back in the race for a top-three spot.

“They got off to a flier - 80 for two after 17 - then some tight bowling brought about some loose shots and we managed to roll them on a good deck for a score well below par.

“We were a bit ropey at first, but Jake Lufman and Doug Hewett guided us home.”

Bovey lost opener Chris Clayton second ball to Dave Burke thenn had Zaid Joseph run out by Luffman with a throw from mid-off after batting partner Pete Bradley had second thoughts about a single.

Bradley went on to top score for Bovey with 45 before he was caught on the boundary having a swing at Hill. Bradley perished as he had performed as 40 of his 45 came in boundaries.

Sam Stein and Nick Reed contributed run-outs – Andy Fairbairn (22) and Dan Childs respectively – as Plymouth looked sharp in the field.

Bovey were distinctly off the pace when they fielded with six catches going to ground, three of them off exasperated spinner Chris Bradley.

First out for Plymouth was James Toms, bowled by Childs (3-38), then Whittaker and George Stephenson went reaching 22 for three.

Hewitt and Luffman calmed Plymouth nerves and although Childs had one more wicket in him, Steve Luffman replaced his son and stroked an unbeaten 15 to see Plymouth to victory.

BRADNINCH crashed to a 125-run defeat against North Devon as the leaders underlined their title claims in an emphatic way.

North Devon could only draw with Bradninch when the sides met earlier in the season – and had to be content with the thinner slice.

Second time around North Devon pounded along to 251 all out in the last of their 50 overs, then skittled Bradninch out for 126 in reply.

The villain of the piece as far as Bradninch were concerned was North Devon all-rounder Rob Gear, who top scored with 75 then took five for 27 to send the home side packing.

North Devon’s front line batters all cashed in with Gear leading the way. He was caught at cover off Gary Chappell (4-47) having taken the score up to 165 for three.

Along the way there were stands of 90 with Alex Smith (41) and 58 with Craig Overton (29).

Dan Bowser (21) and Dan Pickard (25) were next best, although they found life harder than the earlier batters against tight bowling from Chappell and Paul Nott (3-65).

Eliot Acton suffered a knee injury while bowling and had to come off after three overs, which meant more work than usual for veteran Nott.

Bradninch had to go some to get up with the asking rate and at 76 for three were still in with a sniff.

Ross Acton had made 26 and Chappell was on 22 at the time when Gear claimed him caught and bowled to start the steady slide to defeat.

Three wickets went between 76 and 80 as Gear got stuck in.

Sean Nowak (23) delayed the inevitable for a while, but Matt Westaway (2-25) got him and it was all over pretty quickly after that.

BUDLEIGH Salterton kept their nerve to beat Heathcoat by six runs and stay on the fringe of the title race.

North Devon (212pts) have to slip up badly to be caught by any of the chasers, led by Sidmouth (176) and followed by Budleigh (175) and Exmouth (170).

However, Budleigh skipper Sandy Allen hasn’t given up all hope yet and will keep chasing until there is no point continuing.

“I think the manner of our win over Heathcoat showed we are serious about our cricket,” said Allen.

“Heathcoat were 123 for four chasing our 125 all out and common sense says they should have won.

“We kept grinding away at them and once we got Randerson out I felt we were going to win.

“It was one of those days when the ball was swinging and Scott Barlow and Bob Dawson were able to exploit the conditions at the end.

“North Devon still have to play us and Sidmouth. If we keep winning we can get pretty close to them and make the last couple of weekends interesting.”

Budleigh were all out for 145 in the 44th over having been spun to a turn by Chris Small (4-32), aided and abetted by seamers Liam Lewis (2-38) and Matt Hague (2-32).

Allen top scored with 47, James Burke had 25 and Jack Dart was next best on 19.

Heathcoat were 40 for four when Pete Randerson (51) and Tom Frankpitt (41) teamed up – and 123 for five when Dawson snared Frankpitt lbw.

Randerson went caught behind soon after and it was downhill all the way to 139 all out.

Heathcoat did enough to get out of the bottom two though as Sidmouth did them a favour by humbling Plympton by 10 wickets.