WILTSHIRE V DEVON
ECB COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP (TIME FORMAT)
At South Wilts CC on Thursday, 3rd July
WILTSHIRE 142 for 7 (57 overs)
C Bryan 8-3-16-0, B Huxtable 6-0-19-2, Z Bess 8-1-25-1,
W Matthewman 15-5-33-2, M Golding 20-5-45-2
DEVON 101 (39.3 overs)
T Mitcham 31, C Eaves 19
WILTSHIRE WON BY 41 RUNS (Devon 3 pts; Wiltshire 20 pts)
A very poor batting performance, in sharp contrast to recent games, resulted in a loss to a Wiltshire team we were expected to beat but who, on the day, proved worthy winners.
Wiltshire won the toss and chose to bat first. They found runs hard to come by on a difficult pitch and at one stage were 84 for six before determined batting by Miles and Merriman enabled them to reach 142 in the maximum overs allowed. All the Devon bowlers performed well, particularly the spinners Will Matthewman and Matt Golding who, between them, bowled 35 of the 57 overs.
The required runs appeared well within our reach but after losing Zak Bess with the score at four the batting was abysmal, apart from Tom Mitcham, who opened and was eighth out for 31, and Craig Eaves, who contributed 19.