Devon Cricket Board - B Division news and views

TAVISTOCK are one win away from promotion out of the B Division following a convincing seven-wicket win over Stoke Gabriel.
Stoke were all out for118 – mostly scored by Ian Coulton (54) and Jack Tolley (21no),
Skipper Shaun Daymond (4-21) led the bowling effort, backed up by Shaun CleAve with three for 26.
Tavvy eased to victory on the back of a 60-run stand between Daymond (42no) and Ian Gray (21).
Victory puts Tavvy 27 points clear of Bideford and 32 up on Thorverton at the top.
A win over Thorverton this Saturday will send Tavvy back to the B Division.
“We are nearly there, but it isn’t quite over yet,” said Daymond.
“We have to beat Thorverton and then we can start celebrating.”
IVYBRIDGE are back in the B Division promotion race after winning by seven wickets against Axminster – barely a week after writing off their chances.
A nine-wicket defeat by promotion rivals Bideford appeared to end Ivybridge’s prospects, but that was before an upset in the latest round of fixtures.
Bideford’s surprise defeat by lowly Bideford opened the door a little for Ivybridge to get back in the race to go up with champions-elect Tavistock.
And Plymstock did Ivybridge a favour by beating Thorverton, who were pressing Bideford from third place.
Only seven points separate Bideford, Thorverton and Ivybridge with two games to go all round, one of the being Bideford against Thorverton which they can’t both win.
“We have got a chance, especially looking the remaining fixtures,” said skipper Gareth Andrews.
“All fixtures in this division are very competitive with no easy games, but if we win our last two we've got a good chance.
“Firstly we need to beat Plymstock, which will be tough as they have been on a good run.”
Jeewan deSilva took four for 19 as a depleted Axminster side were held to 134 for seven - Ben Cross (59) and Joel Seward (44) the leading run getters.
An unbeaten 74 from deSilva, plus 26 from Chris Greenhouse, eased Ivybridge to victory inside 23 overs.
PLYMSTOCK skipper James Nichols was left reflecting on what could have been after his side beat promotion wannabees Thorverton by 99 runs.
Dave Orchard top scored with 71 and Jason Williams hit 39 in a total of 182 for seven.
Williams and Teddy Richards (16) put on 56 for the first wicket, then Orchard took over.
Wickets were hard to come by, however there were two each for Jake Choules and Dan Beatty.
Thorverton haven’t had many bad days with the bat this season, but Saturday was one of them as they dippedfrpom 59 for four to 83 all out.
Only David Baldock lasted long for his 27.
Morgan Parkinson (5-36) did most of the damage with support from Ian Whalley (2-18) and Orchard (2-1) at the end.
Plymstock had hoped to go straight back up this season, but blew up last week against Stoke Gabriel and are resigned to staying down.
Nichols said they way they dealt with Thorverton is encouraging for next year.
“It was the best we have played all season – batting and bowling – on a difficult track,” said Nichols.
BIDEFORD will be looking to bounce back from their derby defeat by Barnstaple & Pilton when they meet Braunton at Kelsey.
Barnstaple’s 77-run win over Bideford may have come too late to save them from relegation, but it did Bideford no favours in the promotion stakes.
Bideford are still second, but only five points clear of Thorverton and seven up on Ivybridge, who are chasing hard.
As Bideford play Thorverton in their final game, the pressure is on not to slip up again.
“We didn’t turn up on Saturday and Barnstaple were the best team on the day,” admitted Bideford captain James Ford.
“one more performance like that and we will be playing B Division cricket again next season.
“Two more good performances and we will be in with a chance of A Division cricket.
Tom Popham top scored for Barnstaple & Pilton with 66 and there was knock of 47 from Brady Sanders in a B&P total of 223 for four.
Devon fast bowler Jack Popham, fast turning into an all-rounder for club and county, thumped 44 not out off 25 balls at the end.
Bideford were in trouble early at three for 12 – Jack Popham (3-33) getting into them – and limped to 69 for nine.
Josh King and brother Fred scored 56 and 30 respectively to make the scoreline more respectable, but Steve Moore flushed out the remaining batters as Bideford dipped to 146 all out.
Barnstaple go to Shobrooke this Saturday hoping for a win and a Braunton defeat to keep their survival hopes alive.
BRAUNTON won by 17 runs at Shobrooke Park to keep a respectable 23-point gap between themselves and the second B Division relegation slot currently occupied by Barnstaple & Pilton.
Ian Roberts (56) and Dave Cresswell (33) were the leading run scorers for Braunton before Chris Simpson (4-45) applied the brake.
Jon Baglow was 20 not out in a final total of 188 for eight.
Shobrooke were all out in reply for 171 – skipper Phil Anning top scoring on 48.
There were early wickets for Tom Robotham (3-33), but it was Baglow (3-31) and Andy Paddison (3-38) who did the damage by slowing the chase after Anning got going.