Devon Cricket Board - Devon blow title race wide open

Devon blow title race wide open

Devon president Roger Moylan-Jones (left) hands Chris Bradley his county cap after the game against Shropshire at Exmouth

DEVON v SHROPSHIRE – DAY THREE

Day One | Day Two

JAMES Burke completed his second half-century of the match as Devon beat Shropshire by four wickets at Exmouth to get right back in the Western Division title race.

Devon have been lagging behind leaders Berkshire since the first round of fixtures, whey they were rain-interrupted against Dorset and dropped points because of it.

Berkshire were 20 points ahead going into the penultimate round of fixtures, but they could only draw away to Oxfordshire, which cost them 14 points of their lead.

Devon are now just six points behind Berkshire with one game to play, which happens to be a winner-takes-all showdown with Berkshire at Sidmouth in two weeks time.

Shropshire, 82 for five overnight, were bowled out for 157 second time around with acting captain Chris Bradley taking seven for42 for combined figures of 12 for 131 in the match.

Devon have only had one 12-wicket bowler in the last two decades – Budleigh’s Andy Procter, who took 12 for 145 against Herefordshire at Torquay in 2006. It came as no surprise when Bradley was presented with his county cap after the game by Devon president Roger Moylan-Jones.

It turned out to be quite a game for Bradley, who turned up on Sunday morning to find himself installed as captain after skipper Neil Hancock had been forced to pull out due to a broken nose sustained playing for club side Sidmouth on Saturday.

Devon were set 182 to win and got there in the end, but only after a struggle.

With Burke (78) and Bob Dawson (28) putting on 92 for the second wicket after Rob Woodman had been and gone for a brisk 25, Devon were 124 for one and cruising.

Dawson went lbw – the 13^th decision of that type in the game – but with Burke starting to slap the bowling around an early and comfortable win seemed on the cards.

Then Devon lost four wickets for 18 runs slipping to 173 for six – Burke among the casualties to a brilliant leg-side stumping – and suddenly it wasn’t so comfortable any more.

Devon needed nine to win when Matt Thompson went caught behind to Richard Oliver (3-27) and Josh Bess got most of them in a harum-scarum dash to victory.

Both sides found runs hard to come by over the three days, which made Burke’s contribution all the more significant.

“James batted brilliantly, which is what he has done virtually all season,” said Devon’s director of cricket Roger Newman.

“”He has been getting runs consistently and what you want if you want to win matches is consistent performers.

“James batted well, but I think Bob Dawson’s innings deserves a special mention.

“He is the senior player in the side, and a former captain, and batted the way you want your senior pro to bat. His 28 was worth three times that in the context of the match.

“It was a spinner’s pitch and he killed off their spinner (Gray), which was vital to winning the match.”

Shropshire 283 (R K Oliver 58, C P Murtagh 66; C Bradley 5-89, T S Anning 3-65,) & 157 (S M Gregory 37; C Bradley 5-42), Devon 259-9 (J E Burke 64, R J Holman 51, M W Thompson 49no; J D Whitney 4-46, A K D Gray 3-68) & 182-6 (J E Burke 78, R I Dawson 28, R J Woodman 25; R K Oliver 3-27). Devon (22pts) bt Shropshire (7) by 4 wkts.

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