Devon Cricket Board - B Division: Hope gets the hammer out!

B DIVISION

JAMES Hope blasted 94 as Thorverton beat Alphington by two wickets to take over at the top of the table.

Hatherleigh were top of the shop with three wins in as many starts, but could only draw at Barton and dropped down to second.

Thorverton looked on shaky ground for a while as Alphington hurtled to 204 for three and still had 20 overs to go.

Ben Morris made 56 and Matt Taylor 54 in a stand of 102, which was topped up by 41 more from Nick Cooper.

Ben Slaviero (3-51) and Nick Barton (3-56) turned the game round as Alphas dipped to 245 al out in the 43rd over.

Thors set off in hot pursuit with Hope blazing away in stands of 98 with Dave Baldock (47) and 50 with Will Denford (21).

Although Tom Bath (4-43) and Andy Wilson (3-71) posed the odd problem, Thors won with three overs to spare.

It’s Hatherleigh next for Thorverton, whose captain Ali Fury knows there can be no resting on laurels just yet.

“It was a good win over a decent team, although the 54 extras worried me a bit and we need to be a bit more professional in the field,” said Fury, who will have Paul Fielder back as an extra batter this Saturday.

CHUDLEIGH skipper Jon Martin planned to crack the whip at training this week in readiness for the home game against promotion-chasers Lewdown.

Two straight defeats – Axminster turned them over y 65 runs last time out – have seen Chudleigh drop further behind the top two.

Another defeat now would leave Chudleigh trailing Thorverton and Hatherleigh at the top and having to play catch-up.

“We didn’t play well at Axminster and while you could say some key decisions didn’t go our way, we did not help ourselves either,” said Martin.

“Batting wise a lot of people got starts, but no one went on to get 70-80, which we really needed.

“We gave away 52 extras and that was far too many and has to be reduced.

“Over the past couple of seasons we have started poorly, then improved. It seems to be the other way around this year.

“It is something we need to sort out and that means knuckling down at training.”

Axminster skipper Paul Miller – who survived a confident lbw plea by Martin before getting off the mark – went on to make an unbeaten century in his side’s total of 245 for eight.

Tristan Wakeley made 52 – he and Miller put on 105 for the third wicket – while there were two wickets each for Ed Foreman, Rob Clarke, Martin and Ben Holmes.

Chudleigh – 65 for none then 77 for three – were finally bowled out for 180 by Matt Pyle (4-41) and Ben Libby (4-57).

No one made more than Divan Marais (39) in the Chudleigh reply.

BRADY Saunders and Lee Cole stroked Barnstaple & Pilton to a seven-wicket win over visiting Tavistock.

Matt Witcher hit 50 not out and there were handy chip-ins from Aaron Churchill (45) and John McGahey (44) as Tavvy totalled 202 for six. Churchill and McGahey put on 81 for the fourth wicket.

Leading wicket taker for B&P was George McEndoo (3-46).

Barnstaple lost opener Andy Barton first ball after tea, but Saunders (84no) kept going and at 118 for three was joined by Cole (52no) for a stand of 85 that won the game.

NATHAN Caton-Robertson hit 95 as Dartington & Totnes salvaged a draw from their game against Lewdopwn.

Rob Mutch was top scorer Lewdown in their tally of 269 for seven with 77. Mutch and Paul Cooper (41) put on 131 for the fourth wicket after Lewdown had been 79 for four with Caton-Robertson (4-71) among the wickets.

D&T were always behind the clock – Mutch (4-44) and Mark Jordan (3-26) responsible – and 12 overs out with Caton-Robertson gone they shut up shop/

Last pair Dave Carter and Ben Hartridge blocked out to see D&T reach 158 for nine.

Darington are at home to Alphington this Saturday.

BARTON go to Tavistock this Saturday having done everything but beat former leaders Hatherleigh at Cricketfield Road.

Rashmi Jinan laid into the Hatherleigh bowling to make 89 as the scoreboard whizzed round to reach 215 for five.

Damon Calland and skipper Adam Parker both had three-wicket hauls as battling Hatherleigh held on at 145 for nine.

Jinan finding some form after a quiet debut a week earlier at Alphington certainly helped Barton, but skipper Parker said a week-on-week improvement is starting to emerge.

On the batting front there was a stand of 89 for the sixth wicket in just eight overs at the end between Jinan and Greg Shelton (27).

Jinan, who was dropped on 20 and several times afterwards, made 88 offf 64 balls with nine fours and five sixes.

Bowling wise, Hatherleigh were pegged back from 128 for four to 134 for eight, which changed the game.

Last pair Gareth Tidball and Rob Fishley shut up shop for the final 10 balls to ensure Hatherleigh sent home with something for their efforts.

Tidball spent much of the game being checked over in Torbay Hospital for a shoulder injury, but insisted on batting in an attempt to save the game.

“It was as shame we couldn't get the final wicket, but a brilliant team effort and we fought hard for every point,” said Barton skipper Parker.

“I felt it was a positive result that showed we have great strength in depth.”