Devon Cricket Board - A Division news and views

A DIVISION

PLYMPTON were brought down to earth at Braunton where they lost by two wickets with one ball left in the match.

Skipper Andy Walter rightly played down the significance of the opening day win over Shobrooke Park, pointing out there would be far tougher challenges ahead.

By the looks of it, that message wasn’t taken on board. Plympton were bowled out for 151 in the penultimate over and lost in the over they had given away.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I feel we didn’t help ourselves with some bad shots,” said Walter.

“Chris Bunney batted really well for his 53, but Josh Mailling (32) started well then got carried away.

Altough we bowled and fielded well, the over we gave Braunton came back to haunt us.

“After Shobrooke Park we have come down to earth wit a bump. But maybe it was the kick up the backside we needed to make us realise what work is required to be anywhere near the top two this season.

Having raced to 59 for none in the first 12 overs, Plympton slowed against the spin of Mark Lathwell (2-25), Harry Booker (3-34) and Andy Paddison (2-33).

Bunny held it altogether until he was ninth man out.

Ian Roberts (46), Alec Hodges (20) and Lathwell (24) all made inroads into the total.

Aamer Hayat – who had seven wickets in the 211-run win over Shobrooke – was in his third spell before he got a breakthough at Braunton.

Braunton reached the last over from Craig Donohue (2-31) needing 13 to win and home captain Jon Baglow (12no) got most of them.

SOUTH Devon go into the derby clash against Abbotskerswell looking to bounce back from a three-wicket defeat by Plymstock.

The Newton Abbot side were all out for 114 after running into big trouble against Plymstock skipper Dave Orchard and Seb Jordan.

Having reached 72 for two without many issues – Tom Carter (33), Adrian Hewings (25) and Dave Knowles (25) among the runs – it all went pear shaped.

Orchard took six for 16 and Jordan two for 21 as South Devon fell apart.

Plymstock cantered to 85 for two in reply before South Devon spinners Matt Coult (3-34) and James Hart (2-32) made the game a bit more interesting.

South Devon didn’t shift Mitch Reynolds early enough though and his 62 clinched victory.

South Devon skipper Adrian Hewings said his side were suffering because of the soggy start to the season.

“Batting wise Carter and Knowles looked solid in their partnership, but I think we looked to get on with it a bit to soon, which is to be expected with no meaningful practice or game time,” said Hewings.

“In the field we bowled well and kept the pressure on through spin twins Hart and Coult.

“With a bit more luck at key moments a few more points and even a win may have been possible.”

IT DOESN’T get any easier for Shobrooke Park who entertain 100 per centers Exeter this Saturday.

Shobrooke followed their 211-run drubbing at Plympton with an eight wicket defeat by Cornwood.

Shobrooke were in trouble almost from the start

Cornwood’s Mike Wood (4-38) got stuck in early and at seven for four it seemed an early finish was on the cards.

Tom O’Keefe (50no) batted through to the end and shared in stands of 52 for the fifth wicket with Richard Pyle (18) and 58 for the ninth with Peter Turner as Shobrooke recovered to make 162 for nine.

Matt Butterworth kept it tight from one end – his first 13 overs only cost 20 runs – while Adam Goodliffe (3-37) prospered at the other.

Pakistani star Mohammad Salman put his first-ball aberration against Brixham behind him by clubbing 81 to put Cornwood on their way.

A stand of 131 for the second wicket between Salman and Alistair Craig (44no) broke the back of the chase.

Jason Hall was 24 not out with Craig when the winning runs were knocked off with nine overs to go.

Skipper Craig Harris said victory was down to the bowlers.

“Mike Wood bowled faultlessly and until O’Keefe got hold of him in the last two overs so did Matt Butterworth,” said Harris.

“There are areas where we need a bit more application, but after the Brixham game it was a positive step in the right direction.”

EXETER will be disappointed not to make it three wins on the reel when they visit early strugglers Shobrooke Park this Saturday.

Having blown away Plymstock on the opening day of the season, Exeter followed up with a 125-run win over visiting Abbotskerswell.

Chris Webb was run out for 97 and Tom Viljoen made 60 in Exeter’s total of 256 for five. Their stand of 126 for the third wicket had Abbots chasing leather in their field.

Abbots were all out for 131 with four balls of the game remaining.

Andy Mead (5-58) and Callum Still (3-15) did most of the damage with the ball. Last man Alun Lewis shouldered arms to a straight one from Mead – and that probably cost Abbots a draw.

Abbot were in all sorts of bother at 66 for six, Mike Pugh (27) and Marcus Green (14) put on 49 for the seventh wicket, but it wasn’t enough.

Exeter skipper Jon Tipper said Abbots were never interested in going for the runs, but getting them out proved hard.

“On a very good deck it was always going to be difficult to get 10 wickets, so I was really pleased we did it,” said Tipper.

“Our bowling and fielding was as good as I have seen it for a long time, but the most pleasing thing was the way we kept pushing Abbots when they did not want to play a shot or show any interest in going for the draw.

“Overall it was one of the best performances we have produced in this division.”

Looking back at the game, Abbots’ skipper Richard Lake said: We worked hard all the way through Exeter innings but didn’t make it easy for ourselves with too many four balls and some average fielding.

“Exeter had some key partnerships and were on top of their game in the field

“We need to work on creating platforms to build challenging totals.

“Pugh and Green batted well again, but there were no other significant partnerships.”

BRIXHAM will be looking to finish the job if they get the chance against Braunton this Saturday after pinning Paignton in the ropes but not killing them off.

New boy Matt Renwick hit 81 on his debut and Craig Eaves chipped in with 50 as Brixham made 217 for six.

Paignton were clinging on at 153 for nine when the overs ran out.

Brixham skipper Mark Orchard said it was a dominant performance against a good side. All it needed was one more wicket!

“We bowled well in partnerships and built the pressure on Paignton so they got bogged down and played shots which cost wickets,” said Orchard.

I haven’t seen us stay patient and bowl in the right areas often enough, so it was encouraging to do that.

“We need to work on staying focussed and keeping the intensity high when other teams are building partnerships.

“We batted our 50 overs patiently and built partnerships on a wicket that needed concentration.”

Keeper-batter Renwick – New Zealand born but England-qualified – put on 118 for the fourth wicket with Eaves after Brixham stumbled from 67 for none to 88 for three.

Orchard (42) and Mark Newman had given Brixham their start.

Pick of the Paignton bowlers with four for 28 was George Yates.

Paignton could not have wished for a worse start as they lost opener Simon Mantell second ball to Mark Gilmour, who went on to take four for 58 against his old club.

Ollie Higgs (42), Seb Benton (24) and Connor Bryan (23) helped make inroads into the target, but at 147 for five Paignton were well behind the clock.

Losing five wickets for no runs at all didn’t help and it was left to last pair Mike Pedley and Connor Stanley to block out the final six overs to earn a draw at 153 for nine.

Orchard and Matt Stringfellow had two wickets each.

Paignton go to Cornwood this Saturday keen to turn in some improvements.

Captain Andy Kingdon said Paignton’s preparations for the season had been hit by bad weather and they need time out in grass.

“It showed that we were short of match practice and we were lucky to get the losing draw,” said Kingdon.

“We bowled and batted well in periods, but there were too many bad balls and poor shots.

“This Saturday we need to apply ourselves better.”