Devon Cricket Board - Paignton go through ... by George!

Paignton go through ... by George!

PAIGNTON beat North Devon by three wickets in second semi-final, which may have been low scoring but was nail biting to the end.
There were only eight balls left in the match when Paignton passed the target of 96 to win to set up a final against Exmouth.
Opener Rob Gear top scored for North Devon with 35 – one of only three totals in double figures.
After Neil Bettis had walked caught behind to George Benton, Gear and Max Curtis put on 38 for the second wicket.
Stephen George snared Curtis (12) caught behind before Gear departed on 60.
Skipper Barney Huxtable made 17 at one end while three wickets went down at the other.
It took a superb diving catch by Connor Bryan at wide mid-off to remove Huxtable and give George his second wicket.
The last three wickets only realized seven runs between them as North Devon faded to 95 all out with seven balls to come.
Paignton couldn’t have had a worse start had they planned it with openers Zubyar Hamza and Richard Ashworth both out for ducks.
Hamza, whose 95 against Bovey won the area final, went caught behind first ball to Tom Allin.
Ashworth was bowled by Sam Witheridge at the start of the next over.
Other than Peter Taylor who made 19, Paignton struggled against North Devon’s bowling of whatever pace.
Allin was a bit too quick for them at times and Witheridge was quicker than he looked.
There was no let-up when Jack Pudney replaced Allin from end as his four overs only cost 10 runs and accounted for Chris Kelmere and Connor Bryan.
At 57 for six Paignton were one wicket away from going home early, but North Devon couldn’t take it.
The match turned on a stand of 29 between George Benton and Dan Wolf, who did enough in two overs to take the game off North Devon.
Max Curtis bowled one over for 12 runs – mostly scored by Wolf – then Tom Allin came back for his fourth and final.
Allin ‘bowled’ Wolf with a no-ball – and the Paignton batter celebrated his reprieve by shoveling the next ball over his shoulder for four!
To add insult to injury Wolf drove Allin through extra-cover for four more next ball. Now it was getting interesting….
Wolf tried another over-the-shoulder job and was caught down at fine-leg by Bettis for his cheek.
The target had slimmed from 31 off five to 10 off three and the two George’s – Benton and Yates – saw it through.
Yates concluded proceedings by edging Huxtable through slip for the winning runs.

DCB Ltd, University of Exeter Sports Hall, Stocker Road, Exeter, Devon EX4 4QN Company Registration Number: 7024773