DEVON v CAMBRIDGESHIRE

SEMI  FINAL

Saturday 23rd August .

DEVON  194 for 8 in 50 overs (A. Brown 40, B.Huxtable 34, C.Bryan 31 not out)

CAMBRIDGESHIRE 105 all out in 42.1 overs (Z Bess 10- 2- 22-1, C.Eaves 6.1-3-5-1, M.Golding 10-2-26-3, B.Huxtable 4-1-16-1, D.Winsor 5-1-11-2, C.Bryan 5- 0-16-1,  S. DeFriend 2- 0-6-0)

DEVON  WON BY 89 RUNS

Having been asked to bat first Devon found the accuracy of the early bowling a difficult to score from and at one stage were 11 for 2 with both openers out. Brown and Huxtable did much to repair the damage with a third wicket stand of 73 before Huxtable was bowled. Devon lost wickets at regular intervals before an excellent ninth wicket stand of 49 between Bryan and Grainger took the score to 194 in their allotted overs. In the interval this was considered to be a challenging target. It  became even more so when very good new ball spells from Bess and Eaves reduced Cambridgeshire to 12 for 2 in 12 overs . This included the run out of Reynolds  who has been their principal run scorer throughout the season  Cambridgeshire never really recovered from this despite an outstanding innings of 55 from Summerskill. All Devon’s bowlers were able to exert pressure and in the end they were comfortable and deserving winners by 89 runs, thereby  qualifying to meet Middlesex in the National Final.

DEVON V MIDDLESEX

NATIONAL  FINAL

Sunday 24th  August .

MIDDLESEX 164 for 8 in 40 overs. (Z.Bess 8-3-23-1, C.Eaves 7-0-32- 0, C.Bryan 6 -2 -33 -2, M.Golding 4-0-15-1, B.Huxtable 7-0-32-1, D.Winsor 8-1-27-1).

DEVON 163 for 9 in 40 overs. (W Steward 57, A Brown 25)

MIDDLESEX WON BY 1 RUN

This group of players have performed at a high level throughout the season and it was very disappointing to see them lose the final by the narrowest of margins, particularly so after they had held the upper hand for so much of the game.The match was reduced to 40 overs per side after rain had delayed the start. Middlesex won the toss and elected to bat first, probably thinking that the wet outfield would make gripping the ball difficult for the Devon bowlers. As it turned out the outfield dried remarkably quickly and a really excellent opening spell by Bess and Eaves ensured that Middlesex found runs hard to come by. As a consequence they were reduced to 20 for 2 after 9 overs before a  stand of 51 for the third wicket between Rossington and Ventham restored the balance between the two teams. The batting did not dominate the bowling for any sustained period during the rest of the innings and Middlesex were restricted to 164 in their allotted overs. This  was considered to be a very achievable target, even more so when the score reached 41 for 1 in the first 10 overs.At this point a rather unfortunate incident  occurred when  the Middlesex coach stopped the game to discuss the number of power play overs that needed to be bowled. Whether this affected concentration levels is difficult to judge, it could be that a change of bowlers who took the pace off the ball made scoring difficult on a slow and low wicket. In the event Bess and Mitcham were quickly dismissed and 41 for 1 became 45 for 3. Devon found run scoring difficult in the middle of their innings and only 17 runs were scored from  the second 10 overs. The scoreboard pressure which this induced  led to wickets falling  and  7 wickets were down with the score at 118.  Will Steward then produced an excellent and determined innings which saw the game swing back in Devon’s favour. Amid great tension just 6 runs required and 2 wickets left. It seemed that Steward was going to see Devon home until he was caught looking to drive the ball through the less populated off side field. In the end we fell just 1 run short of being national champions.  On reflection the mid innings scoring rate  left just us with a little too much to do in the closing overs. Congratulations to Middlesex but it was bitterly disappointing for the players to have come so close and not quite get over the line.