JUNE 16, 2007
SIDMOUTH have gone clear at the top of the A Division after handing out a 145-run drubbing to Braunton.
Plymouth and Sidmouth had been neck and neck a the top of the shop since the first Saturday of the season with perfect records of six wins in as many starts. The two title rivals don't play each other for another fortnight.
Plymouth were rained off at Cornwood in the latest round of matches, which allowed Sidmouth to get ahead of them at last, although only by seven points.
Sidmouth opener Anthony Griffith was dropped on 19 and went on to make Braunton pay by hitting a top score of 95 in a total of 189 all out.
Matt Cooke chipped in with 35 with the best of the rest being 16 by Nick Gingell and 12 for Frazer Hanson.
Spinner Andy Paddison took the bowling honours for Braunton with five for 42. Colin Hack claimed three for 35, including dangerman Neil Hancock, who failed to disturb the scorers.
Braunton had five extra overs to knock off the runs, but Hancock and Scott Barlow soon made that equation meaningless by ripping into the top order.
Twelve for three, with former England batsman Mark Lathwell out first ball to Barlow, quickly became 22 for five then 36 for eight.
Dan Bowser (10) was the only batsman to reach double figures as Hancock (5-30) and Barlow (4-5) shot Braunton out for 44.
PLYMOUTH were rained off in the derby game with Cornwood, which cost them top spot in the table as Sidmouth roared past them thanks to their 145-run win at Braunton.
Chris Barr made a top score of 48, and Terry Stevens was 26 not out, in a total of 147 for nine when the heavens opened. Andy Bees (3-35) was Cornwood's most effective bowler.
SOUTH Devon moved off the bottom of the A Division with a remarkable 82-run win over Shobrooke Park in a stop-start game that finally finished at three minutes past nine at night!
Shobrooke Park were asked to improve on South Devon's total of 226 for five, but were bowled out for 144 after numerous stoppages after tea stretched the game into overtime.
The remarkable thing about the game was the manner in which South Devon scored their runs – mostly in a dramatic way in the last 10 of their rain-reduced 46 overs.
At the 31-over mark, when there was a break in proceedings due to rain, South Devon were 75 for three with Chris Metters and Phil Blackmore the men at the crease.
Metters fell for 36 at 104, from which point South Devon slipped into overdrive as Pakistani Rizwan Saeed launched a vicious assault on the Shobrooke bowling.
No bowler was safe while Saeed plundered 62 off just 36 balls in a stand of 118 in just 10 overs with Blackmore, who finished unbeaten on 61.
Matt Bamber (2-10 off 15) and Tom O'Keefe (1-34 off 11) had done a fine job containing South Devon early on but they hadn't been bowling to Saeed!
Phil Anning (4-0-42-1), Ben Trenaman (7-0-55-0) and Brian Randall (9-0-70-1) all suffered a Saeed ran amok.
Saeed was out in the final over as South Devon reached 226 for five.
Shobrooke got into trouble on the chase during the time it took them to slip from 57 for two to 58 for five. Skipper Andrew Codling came in at third wicket down and dug in to make 65 in an effort to save the game.
Left-armer Metters (3-29), Mike Smith (4-49) and Saeed (2-36) whittled through the Shobrooke batting between them but couldn't get Codling.
With four overs left Shobrooke were down to their last pair and Metters bowled Codling for 65 to give South Devon victory.
BOVEY Tracey slipped behind South Devon into bottom spot in the A Division when they could only draw with visiting Abbotskerswell.
But the alarm bells won't be ringing just yet at Bovey as it couldn't be tighter at the foot of the table where only four points separate five clubs: Abbotskerswell, Braunton, Shobrooke Park, South Devon and Bovey.
In another game interrupted by the weather, Bovey finished up with 198 for nine in a 43-over game.
Peter Bradley (36) and Ben Ayres (52) gave Bovey an 84-run start, Andy Kingdon (31) and Chris Bradley (23) pushed on to 144 for five then Lance Ames (27) supervised the tail enders before he was run out attempting a single which would have tested Linford Christie in his prime!
Abbots skipper Marcus Green had to work hard with limited bowled resources, but won't have been too upset by his own figures of two for 29 with a slippery ball, or the efforts of Carl Mitchell (2-44) and occasional bowler Danny Full (2-12).
Abbots needed a good start to be competitive and got it thanks to Mitchell and James Brown (23) putting on 64 without loss.
Chris Bradley (3-36) and a couple of run-outs put a different complexion on the game as Abbots dipped to 87 for five, but with Mitchell booked in for the duration.
Green helped Mitchell stop the slide then departed when he was run out at 109 for six.
Mitchell (77no) and Hayden Crocker (14no) batted out the remaining overs as Abbots took the safety first route to 165 for six when their overs ran out.
BRADNINCH and Tavistock dodged the showers for 36 overs to claim 10 points each from a washed out game at Kensham Recreation Ground that left them exactly where they were on Saturday morning – one behind the other in the A Division.
Ian Gray and Phil Stephens opened up for Tavistock and got the Moorlanders away to an 80-run start.
Gray made 40 and Stephens 46, but both were outscored by Dave Manning, who biffed a quickfire 53.
After Manning went, Tavistock lost five wickets for 15 runs to a combination of Ross Acton (2-37), Paul Nott (2-36) and Joel Murphy (2-49). Play stopped when Tavistock were 190 for nine and didn't resume.
Tavistock (99pts) are still third in the table, and Bradninch fourth (84) Both gained four points on second-placed Plymouth, who were rained off at Cornwood.