Devon Cricket Board - E Division - Babbacombe back on track

E Division - Babbacombe back on track

BABBACOMBE put their shock defeat by Topsham behind them to beat Upottery by nine wickets and get their E Division promotion bandwagon rolling again.

Skipper Steve Broad was looking for a reaction after the dismal showing against bottom side Topsham and felt he got it.

Upottery – 91 for two in 20 overs – were all out for 155 with Broad (3-41), Paul Bates (2-26) and Dave Stubbs (2-21) among the wickets.

“It was a much-improved and disciplined bowling performance,backed up with better fielding and some good catches which was exactly the response I was looking for,” said Broad.

Steve Porter missed out at the top of the order, but that was as good as it got for Upottery as Andy Kingdon (62no) and Jacob Hand (73no) got the rest of the runs without mishap.

Their stand of 131 got Babbacombe over the line with 15 overs to go.

“They batted with patience but authority andlooked very comfortable together,” said Broad.

Kilmington visit Walls Hill this Saturday.

Whitchurch still head the pack chasing second spot in the E Division after they beat Bridestowe by 19 runs.

Ben Powell hit 50 at the top of the order and Billy Barriball chipped in with 45 as Wayfarers totted up 197 for eight.

Callum Mallet (3-42) was the pick of the Bridestowe bowlers.

Bridestowe’s batting fell apart from the start – Josh Vernon (3-37) doing early damage – and after a going over from Mark Kerswill (3-30) as well they were 91 for eight when tail-ender Matt Dennis came out to join surviving opener Jack Hatton.

Dennis clubbed a rapid 50 as he and Hatton put on 85 for the ninth wicket to get Bridestowe right back in the game.

Barriball got Dennis out, then last man Mallet, leaving Hatton stranded on 74 not out with no one left to bat with

Whimple banked a full-house of 22 points with a big victory over Yarcombe and Stockland to move to within one point of second in the E Division Whitchurch.

When the 30th over was completed Whimple, batting first, had 170 runs on the board. Then came the fireworks as Chris Palfrey marked his return to the club after a spell with Feniton and he launched himself into the bowling plundering nine 6s in a 28-ball knock of 72 as he and his father Steve (42no) put on 93 for the fourth wicket taking Whimple to a declaration at 301-4.

Rex Helston was the most successful of the home bowlers, finishing with figures of 3-44 as visiting Whimple chalked up an imposing 301-4 declared after 45 of their 50 overs.

Steve Hathaway (3-31), Matt Richards (3-32) and Paul Gillard (3-32) then combined to bowl Yarcombe out for 153 leaving Whimple winners by a whopping margin of 148 runs.

Only John Rich offered any significant resistance as the reply floundered on 153.

Skipper Ben Silk said: “We spoke before the game about looking to get a declaration. The trouble was we were not sure what a winning score was. However, once the Palfrey’s got stuck in and got us to 300 it made sense to call the batters in and see if we could then knock them (Yarcombe) over to bag the full house of bowling points.”

“The win keeps Whimple in the promotion race and Silk sees the next few games as a real opportunity for his side.

He says: “We host Kenn then travel to Upottery before the Whitchurch game at the end of the month,

“July is the key month for us I feel and if we can win the next three then we’ll be sitting pretty for then run-in.

“That said we are taking nothing for granted. As we saw last week with Topsham St James beating Babbacombe, bottom can beat top in this section.

“Kenn will be a challenge, but if want to get back up then we’ll need to win the majority of our remaining eight games.”

Yarcombe sit second bottom in the section, just four points better off than basement side Upottery.

On Saturday they travel to Upottery for a game that neither side can afford to lose.

KILMINGTON have quietly climbed to fourth in the E Division and now sit just 28 points behind second placed Whitchurch after a 27-run win at Kentisbeare.

Ralph Stonex top scored with 48 in a Kilmington total of 237-9.

Tom Gooding took three wickets for 32 runs as the Mid Devon side were bowled out for 222.

On Saturday Kilmington entertain Bridestowe.

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