Devon Cricket Board - Bradninch destroy Chudleigh

Bradninch destroy Chudleigh

GIAN Botha slammed a century as Bradninch picked up a 22-point maximum at Chudleigh.
But it was Paul Nott with a seven-wicket haul who sealed a 62-run win as Bradninch gained ground on the leading pack of clubs.
Botha helped himself to 101 off 120 balls with 13 fours and two sixes in Bradninch’s total of 243 for five declared.
Along the way he shared in stands of 89 with Dan Hardy (41) and 98 with skipper Tim Piper, who finished unbeaten on 47.
Faisal King (3-59) finally removed Botha with the score on 228.
Chudleigh were all out for 181 in reply, which gave Bradninch victory and two extra bonus points for winning a declaration game.
Nott had Chudleigh reeling right from the start with two wickets in his first four balls, then Mark Solway at the end of his second over. All three went lbw.
Sachintha Galhenage (35), Rob Clarke (26), Khaliq (39) and Dan Britcliffe (37) all chipped in towards a middle order revival.
Nott started his second spell by having Khaliq caught behind and proceeded to run through the bottom half of the order.
Nott wrapped things up by dismissing Matt Ball to finish with seven wickets for 43 runs.
It was Nott's best bowling return in the league, eclipsing his seven for 61 against Paignton in 2011.
Bradninch are now up to fourth and can go higher by beating second-placed Barton this Saturday.
Piper praised Nott’s contribution to an anticipated victory, but said he wanted to look beyond that at the wider picture.
“It was a game we were expecting to win, although we did in the end it was a lot closer than it could have been and we have ourselves to blame for that,” said Piper.
“ Our batting unit has settled in and seems to be coming together well now. Gian Botha got his first 100 of the year, which is great for him and I expect him to kick on from here with the bat.
“Dan Hardy also looked at his best. Both players in good form, going into two big games (Paignton and Budleigh), to end the first half of the season is great news for us.
“Paul Nott and Ross Acton bowled well for us first up and our standards were high in the field.
“But once we went through the top order, we did our usual trick of taking our foot off the gas and letting the opposition back into the game.
“Complacency and lack of a 'killer instinct' has been a major issue with Bradninch over the last few seasons and it's something we continue to work on and try to instill in the players.
“Their batsman played Ross better than most other teams we have played this year so credit to them for that.
The ever-reliable Paul Nott, was very effective. Always threatening the stumps and putting batsmen under pressure. It's excellent to have someone like that in the team.
“Barton next and then Budleigh. Tw teams at the top of the table.
We haven't played at our best yet but if we win both those games we will probably finish the first half of the season on top of the table.
“We're on the right path to returning to the Premier division at the first attempt and now we are starting to find some consistency, we probably should.”

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