Devon Cricket Board - B Division reports and reaction

B DIVISION

THORVERTON will be out to make it two wins out of two when they go to Dartington this Saturday.

Having been rained off against Lewdown seven days earlier, Thors made up for lost time with a thumping eight-wicket win at Axminster.

Youngster Jake Choules was the star of the bowling show with five for 17 as Axminster dipped from 66 for one to 110 for five and 124 all out.

Dave Murnane made 30 and Ryan Walker 20, which didn’t leave much from the rest.

Thors fielded with 10 for most of the game as Gareth Hess had to go to hospital after breaking a finger.

Thors raced to victory inside 20 overs with Paul Fielder (44no) and skipper Ali Fury (24) hoisting 44 for the first wicket.

Fielder and Andrew Codling (3no) helped by 25 wides, completed the chase.

“We will have harder games this season, but it is all about winning and I was happy with 20 points,” said Fury, who will be without Coding this Saturday but expects to have Nick Barton back.

ALPHINGTON will be in good shape for the visit of Barton after cruising to a seven-wicket win at Tavistock.

The Alphas needed a tonic after taking a pasting from Chudleigh first time out and got it thanks to captains past and present Paul James and Stuart Shaw.

Having posted 185 for nine in their 46 overs – James top scored with 38 – Alphas bowled Tavvy out for 178 in a thrilling finish.

The sultans of spin were James with four for 60 and Shaw with four for 33 as Tavvy nosedived from 170 for three to 176 for nine on their way out.

“Great game to watch if you were a neutral – but it was a bit tense out there at times,” said Shaw.

Dave Haysom (31) and Tom Murray (23) backed James up with the bat.

Chris Broughton (35), Al Churchill (37) and Matt Witcher (32) contributed for Tavvy before it all went wrong.

“Their first five looked handy, but they didn’t have much after that,” said Shaw.

HATHERLEIGH ended Lewdown’s long winning run inflicting a 20-run defeat on their near neighbours.

Lewdown won promotion in 2010 and 2011 without losing a game in either season – and after shooting Hatherleigh out for 128 must have fancied their chances of another win.

Hatherleigh lost Gareth Tidball in the first over then go to 81 for four thanks to Rob Chapman (28) and 38 extras before falling away.

Rob Mutch (5-25) and Phil Yeo (2-35) were Lewdown’s bowling stars.

The boot was on the other foot though as Hatherleigh captain Mark Lake (5-44) and evergreen Richard Tidball (3-3) bundled Lewdown out for 108 in reply.

Lewdown slewed from 46 for one to 85 for five after Kris Harris (23) amd Mutch (30) went. Five ducks didn’t help either!

BARNSTAPLE & PIlton were involved in a dull draw against Dartington & Totnes, who lost too many wickets too soon and abandoned the chase long before the end.

A stand of 100 between Brady Saunders (48) and Andy Barton (56) helped B&P reach 191 for eight.

Dave Carter (3-25) was the pick of the bowlers, aided and abetted by Nathan Caton-Robertson and Jono Colgate with two each.

Dartington spiralled to 78 for five in reply and were never remotely interested in carrying on.

Harold Stevenson (26no) and son Ryan (31) had the best of a modest set of scores in D&T’s final total of 124 for eight. Steve Moore (3-17) and Jack Popham (2-26) were B&P’s best bowlers.

Darts host Thorverton this Saturday. Barnstaple pay a visit to Chudleigh.

CHUDLEIGH’S never-say-die attitude proved the difference as they edged a see-saw game against Barton by two wickets.

Barton recovered from 57 for six to make 140 all out thanks to Andy Hele’s 44 coming in at number eight. Hele and Damon Calland (34no) put in 60 for the seventh wicket.

Earlier, only Shaun Needham (29) made much headway against Jon Martin (4-48) and Ben Holmes (3-28).

Chudleigh laboured against Calland (4-37) and Alex Hunt (2-13). Ed Foreman (52) and Divan Marais (19) shared a stand of 40 which proved crucial.

At 128 for eight with Foreman out, the game was back in the balance. Jack Vittles (19no) saw Chudleigh stagger over the line.

Chudleigh captain Martin said: “One good thing is we don’t kbnow when we are beaten and we don’t play to lose.

“Both teams won and lost the game three or four times, but we kept fighting and we ended up grinding out a good result.
“I have a team of players that all add something at different times, and we don’t rely on one or two individuals.”

Looking ahead to this Saturday’s game against Barnstaple, Martin said there is room for improvement.
We bat, bowl and field well in patches but not through the whole match,” said Martin. “We need to add a bit more all-round consistency to out game.”

Barton skipper Adam Parker was quick to highlight areas for improvement when the team visit Alphington this Saturday.

“We didn’t put enough runs on the board and our bowlers didn’t bowl consistently,” said Parker.

“We really did really well to get them eight down, but had we bowled to our potential I feel it would have been different.”