OLLIE Hunt and Jay Corden turned a likely North Devon 2nd XI defeat into a thrilling win in a nail-biter at Exmouth.North Devon were 53 for five 23 overs in chasing Exmouth’s total of 226 for seven after struggling to keep out Matt Tarry (3-45) and Nick Bolt (2-21).
Hunt made 95 not out and Corden an unbeaten 89 as the pair put on 173 unbroken for sixth wicket to snatch victory with five balls to spare.
Earlier, Exmouth’s veteran left hander Julian Page made 109 off 142 balls with 15 fours and a six.
Man of the match Corden had five for 56.
Exeter won by 10 wickets at Tavistock to move within a point of Sidmouth at the top of the Premier 2nd XI table.
Steve Milne (4-26) and Jack Richardson (3-27) bowled Tavvy out for 126 – skipper John McGahey top scoring on 41.
Sean Langford (59no) and Marcus Hoddinott (58no) were neck and neck all the way as the runs were knocked off.
Sidmouth dropped points against visiting Plymouth in a two-wicket win.
There were three wickets each for Charlie Dibble and Charlie Miles as Sidmouth held Plymouth to 170 for nine – Harry Stephenson (47) top scoring.
Will Sobczak (75) got Sidmouth to 130 for four, then Miles (32no) went the rest of the way. Rob Button took four for 71.
Bovey Tracey remain third in the Premier 2nd XI standings after a hard-earned two-wicket win over Plympton.
Richard Skinner (80) and Jamie Pfeiffer (41) put on 101 for Plympton before James Mason (3-22) and Andrew Lonsgstreet (3-37) slowed them to 178 for seven.
Bovey had a brief hiatus at two for two, but an unbeaten 70 from Phil Barraclough and Mark Grobble’s 34 ensured there were no slip ups despite tidy spells from Dan Vince (4-47) and Pfeiffer (3-36).
Paignton hoisted themselves away from the wrong end of the table thanks to a 78-run win at Cornwood.
Mark Smith hit 57 and there were scores in the 30s for Jason Woodcock and Tom Ward as the visitors reached 229 for seven.
Cornwood were all out for 151 in reply with most of the damage done by Conor Ashworth with four for 33. Skipper Dave Tall made 37.