Devon Cricket Board - Premier - Sidmouth edging towards Bovey showdown

PREMIER DIVISION
SIDMOUTH can sniff a chance of snatching the Premier Division title in the last month of the season after closing in on leaders Bovey Tracey with a 66-run win over Torquay.
Josh Bess scored his second ton of the week – he got one for Devon against Berkshire – with an 89-ball 103 in Sidmouth’s total of 302 for two.
Only Anthony Griffiths – bowled by Aqeel Ahmed for a five-ball duck, missed out ass Sam Anderson (28), Matt Cooke (38), Luke Bess (46) and Zac Bess (34no) tucked in.
Nick Gingell rubbed it in at the end with 25 not out off six balls.
Torquay got to 236 for six before their overs ran out, although they were out of the running for all practical purposes at 27 for three.
Tim Western (35), Joe Thompson (31) and Scott Baldry (32) played the supporting roles to Matt Hickey, who was stranded on 99 not out at time.
Victory puts Sidmouth 26 points behind Bovey with five games to go – the next against Bovey Tracey this Saturday.
Sidmouth skipper Will Murray said his side’s prospects will hinge on beating Bovey.
“The game at Bovey has suddenly become a massive one,” said Murray.
“It would help if we could play the same way we did against Torquay: runs on the board early when we batted and early wickets when we bowled.
“We did think about declaring early for the chance of two extra bonus points, but decided against it.
“Torquay never looked like getting the target. It seemed all they were interested in was reaching 225 for all their batting points.”
PLYMOUTH go into the last lap of the season looking up the table for the first time this season after winning by 67-runs at Exmouth.
The city side have been in the bottom half of the table all season until now – and acting skipper Chris Barr confessed it was a good feeling to be away from the basement.
“We have come through a tough run of fixture against the top three teams one after the other and won two of them,” said Barr.
“From where we are now we can realistically think about finishing in the top five or top four.”
Plymouth knocked up 242 for seven in their 50 overs – Barr leading the way with 55 with Jake Luffman kicking things off with 49 at the top of the order.
George Stephenson made 33 and James Toms 26 before he was run-out by Max Curtis.
Toms ignored the old adage ‘run a misfield’ and paid as Max Curtis winged his throw in.
Exmouth got just the start they didn’t want when opener Curtis was dismissed by Sam Stein in the first over.
Barney Huxtable (44) and David Lye (25) put on 47 for the second wicket, which proved to be Exmouth’s most productive stand.
Getting Lye out – the first of three victims for Rob Bennett - was key for Plymouth as it denied Huxtable his running mate.
Richard Baggs and Andy Buzza went as Exmouth dipped to 93 for four then Huxtable chanced his arm against Bennett’s and was run out for 44.
Scoreboard pressure was building by now and nothing Trevor Anning (31) or the bottom half of the order could do eased it.
Bennett and Barr (3-30) kept the pressure on as Exmouth were dismissed for 175 with more than six overs to go.
“As games got it was almost perfect,” said Barr.
“We put runs on the board – not quite the 250 we wanted but not far off – then took early wickets when we bowled, which put them under pressure.
“Once Baggs and Lye went myself, Rob Bennett and Matt Hooper got the squeeze on and they were never going to catch up.”
BRADNINCH’S safety margin in the Premier Division was whittled down to 10 points in the wake of a seven-wicket defeat by leaders Bovey Tracey.
Bradninch, without hospitalised skipper Gary Chappell, were bowled out for 125 by the Bradley brothers Chris (3-25) and Peter (3-24). Charlie Hill picked up two for 13 at the end.
The last four wickets went for just 20 runs to Hill and the Bradleys.
Acting captain Ross Acton (26), Paul Tweddle (34) and Will Squire (25) all got starts without going on to build a score.
Bovey had the runs knocked off inside 27 overs with the minimum of interference from the Bradninch bowlers.
Peter Bradley (17), Lewis Hammett (16) and Ben Ayres (24) wiped out the first 71. Matt Golding struck twice for Bradninch.
Neil Hancock with 41 off 35 balls with four fours and three sixes saw Bovet through with Delon Mullins (16) in an unbroken stand of 57.
Bovey skipper Peter Bradley said the bowlers did the hard work to set up a comfortable win.
“When Bradninch batted there wasn’t too much after the first five or six as they had a few missing,” said Bradley.
“Once we got them out it was a question of batting sensibly – and at 70 for three you could see Bradninch heads drop.
“Hanks and Delon finished it off, but yet again we couldn’t get all 20 points, It was another 19.”
HEATHCOAT ton-up captain Chris Small can see a way out of trouble for his bottom-of-the-table side after they shocked defending champions North Devon,
North Devon were set 240 to win to win at Knightshayes, Small smashing an unbeaten century, but with Paul Elliot taking five for 25 they were bowled out for 69 to lose by 160 runs.
Heathcoat are still propping up the table, but results elsewhere mean the bottom four team have been concertinered together.
Only 16 points divide Heathcoat (92), Budleigh (108), Sandford (108) and Torquay (118).
With five games left and 100 points to play for, it’s game on!
“It’s got so close now we are back in touching distance of the other clubs in the bottom half,” said Small.
“Now our batters have started to perform we have won our last two matches. If we can keep winning – two or ideally three games – we can get up the table.”
Another factor in Heathcoat’s resurgence, which as also seen them reach the last four of the Devon KO Cup has been the return of seamer Paul Elliot after a lengthy injury lay off.
“Paul has been brilliant since he came back, but it’s not just what he has done,” said Small.
“James Drew has come into the side as a youngster and done really well. He does not bowl many bad balls.”
Heathcoat lost Hugh McDowell and Sam Smith to Glenn Querl (2-29) reaching 18, then kicked on to reach 166 for three thanks to a stand of 148 between Small and Joe Smith.
Smith made 84 off 131 balls with 10 fours.
Small got to his hundred in the last over. He faced 111 deliveries and put away nine fours and two sixes.
North Devon’s cause wasn’t helped by losing opener Dan Bowser for 25 when he was rapped on the hand by Elliot. That was the least of their worries though!
After Bowser went off and Jason Hayes was bowled by Elliot for 28, the wickets tumbled with gay abandon
Two fell on 53 – both to Elliot who was on a hat-trick – and four more on 54 as North Devon slumped to 54 for seven.
Paul Heard (11) held Bovey up for a while but once Jack Menheneott (2-9_ accounted for him the end wasn’t far away.
North Devon skipper Dart didn’t mince his words after the game.
“No excuses, tt was our worst performance of the year,” said Dart.
“They simply outplayed us and full credit to them.
“We have to forget it and look towards Plymouth this Saturday
SANDFORD slipped into serious relegation danger when they lost by 50 runs to fellow strugglers Budleigh Salterton.
Bob Dawson top scored with 76 as Budleigh accumulated 187 for four in their 50 overs.
Gammy Amarasinghe (47) and James Burke (39) put on 68 for starters, then Dawson took over.
Jack Dart (19no) kept an end going in a standi of 77 with the former Devon captain.
Sandford spinner Simon Ashplant again showed his potential to step up another level in the game with one for 17 from 10 miserly overs.
Sandford looked comfortable at 26 for none, the lost Dave Dredge (10) and Adrian Small (0) in the space of four balls to Matt Plowman (3-20).
George Greed (20) kept Sandford up with the rate for a while but perished to Dawson (2-43) as the middle order wavered.
Scoreboard pressure forced Sandford’s batsmen to take risks – and wickets fell.
Ryan Glass was run out going for a second which was never there while Matt Theedom and Luke Wright hit out and got out.
The game got away from Sandford as they dipped from 91 for five to 99 for eight.
Ashplant (17) and Chris Blake (14no) helped get the final score up to 137 for nine.
Sandford entertain fading title-chasers Exmouth this Saturday and need a win to avoid getting dragged deeper into the mire. They currently share the second drop spot with Budleigh on 108 points.
Defeat was unthinkable for Budleigh in the grand scheme of things.
Skipper Joel Murlphy said the key to staying up is doing the same things again.
“We’ve got Bradninch next and need to get a run going,” said Murphy.
“The players knew the ramifications of losing and rose to the occasion.

“For once our batters knuckled down, led by Bob Dawson who batted superbly, and although I would have liked 200 we had a total to defend.”