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JUNE 16 2007

AXMINSTER III had the rain ruin their chances of a fifth win of the season and it also cost them top spot in D Division East. A healthy 171-9 in which Mike Summers (44), Colin Leadbetter (25), Roger Payne (25) and Mark Endicott (22) all got runs was being answered by Woodbury on 108-7, four wickets to James Herbert, when the rains came. It was a similar soggy end at Feniton II when their game with Upottery II ended with the visitors on 30-1 in reply to the Station Road side's 158-7.

   The biggest ‘losers' to the rain were Uplyme & Lyme Regis II who had Cullompton II on 81-9 facing their own very impressive 294-3 when the rain intervened.

   With the village Fete taking up the hosts   ground the game was switched to Chardstock and Mark Batey enjoyed himself with a superb 14-boundary century. Batey and Tom Daniels put on 79 for the first wickets and then Batey and Jeremy Simms (50) put on 121 for the unbroken 4th wicket. Mark Colley then took over centre stage with the ball claiming four wickets and the remarkable figures of 4-8 whilst Jack Lamb-Wilson (2-14) and Mark Brimmacombe (2-29) had the visitors on the brink, nine down and still 19 runs shy of a hundred when the rain brought proceedings to a sudden halt.

   Ottery St. Mary II began the day in second spot in D Division East but ended it on top after a 152 run win over Kilmington II.

   Gareth Iley (66), Martin Miller (49), Joe Edwards (42) and Barry Flicker (29) saw the Otters to an imposing 279-8. James Smart and Richard Stenning both bagged a brace of wickets for Kilmington II who got a good start in their reply through John Lavender (43) and Les Baker (23) but once that opening partnership was broken the home batsmen crumbled in the face of some tidy bowling from James Faulkner (3-15) and Tom Whitworth (3-42) and the Kilmington innings closed on 127.

   There was a cracking game of cricket played in by Honiton II when they chalked up a 65 run win over Thorverton in a game at Mountbatten park that produced 465 runs.

   The game was a personal triumph for usual 1st XI player Steve Rampaul who was dropped down to the 2nds after some lean times recently in the 1st XI. Rampaul dominated the visitors attack plundering a superb unbeaten century finishing on 114 not out as he and club chairman Steve Jennings (56) - that the chairman's first half century in two years - added 114 runs for the fifth wicket, allowing their side to declare three overs from the end of their allotted number, on a formidable 265-7.

   The Mid Devon visitors got off to a competent start and were 98-2 off 20 overs when rain took the players off and when they came back Andy Branford (3-32), Rob Cheeseman (2-36), Jennings (2-47) and skipper Bob Hill 2-31 saw Thorverton bowled out for 200 with Brinsford claiming the last two wickets of the game in successive balls and fittingly the final wicket to fall did so at the hands of a smart catch by centurion Rampaul.

   A delighted Honiton skipper said: “ There was only one team who really wanted to win this one and hat's off to Ramps (Steve Rampaul) for setting up the victory, it was an excellent all round effort to knock over some very stubborn resistance and I am thrilled to bits.

   “It's another win and with games to come against two of the bottom three I think we have a great chance of being amongst the leading pack as we hit the second half of the season in a couple of weeks time.”