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Plymouth v South Devon

SKIPPER Dave Burke produced a match-winning knock of 47 not out as A Division leaders Plymouth wriggled out of trouble against South Devon to emerge with a four-wicket win.

   Plymouth appeared to have done the hard bit by bowling South Devon out for 132 – Hansantha Fernando taking four wickets and Burke two.

   Then Plymouth slumped to 11 for three after five overs in reply and it needed a watchful innings from Burke to see the city side through to their third win on the trot.

   South Devon were soon in trouble at 21 for four after winning the toss and opting to bat with Dax Oliver, Dave Knowles, James Blood and Rizwan Saeed all back in the pavilion.

   Danny Johnson (32) sparked a mini-fightback by putting on 39 with Chris Metters, but wickets started falling again as South Devon suffered a second slump to 76 for eight.

   Former South Devon captain Mike Smith got his head down to make an unbeaten 41 and with Dave Stubbs and Ryan Maunder put on 56 for the last two wickets.

    Smith (2-31) and Saeed (3-63) posed problems for Plymouth early on and it was left to Burke to see them through.

   Ryan Chitty (18), James Nicholls (12) and finally Luke Minett (21no) produced the support that saw Plymouth to victory and keep them a point ahead of Sidmouth at the top of the table.

  

Cornwood v Sidmouth

CORNWOOD gave promotion favourites Sidmouth a run for their money before going down by three wickets at Oak Park.

   The Corns' early order didn't fire as well as skipper Dave Tall would have liked – Will Murray (5-31 off 15) made sure of that – with Kevin Willcock making 26 and Mohammad Salman 19 s runs proved hard to comeby.

   At 123 for nine an early finish was on the cards, but last pair Chris Harris and Andy Bees were in no mood for an early tea and batted through to the end to add another 40 runs. Harris and Bees were both unbeaten on 20 in an eventual total of 163 for nine.

   Knocking off the runs wasn't   a cakewalk for Sidmouth, who were indebted to Devon all-rounder Neil Hancock's unbeaten 66 for seeing them through. Indeed, at 110 for six – Bees taking two wickets and Salman three - the game was finely balanced and Cornwood could sense a win if they could get Hancock out.

   Anthony Griffiths (13), Matt Cook (12), Jamie Wardrop (13) and Murray (12) all batted round Hancock to ensure a Sidmouth win.

  

Bovey Tracey v Tavistock

IAN Gray and Steve Nicholson both cracked half-centuries as Tavistock raced to an eight-wicket win at Bovey Tracey.

   Bovey fell away badly after a promising start   that had seen them reach 104 for two then 160 five to finish up all out for 186 with two overs to go.

   It had looked like plain sailing for the batsmen as Ben Ayres (52) and Matt Makepiece (27) got the early runs then Andy Kingdon (62) supplied the second wind.

   While Brynlee Barros (2-42) and Andy Gaulker (2-210 bowled tidily, it was young spinner Shaun Cleave, a Tavistock youth system graduate, whose five-for-56 haul finished Bovey off.

   Dave Downham and Ian Gray, whom Tavvy signed from neighbours Whitchurch during the winter, made a modest start, but getting Downham out didn't do Bovey any favours at all.

   Gray, who went on to make 60 off 64 balls with a six and 10 fours, added 87 for the second wicket with Steve Nicholson (55no).

   Nicholson, who had seven boundaries in his 96-ball stay, saw the chase through with Dave Manning, who clubbed 44 not out off 34 balls as Tavvy won at a canter with 17 overs to spare.

   “Our catching and fielding could have been a bit better, but it was a pretty impressive win,” said Tavvy skipper Gauler.

   “I was pleased to see Ian Gray score his first league half-century for the club and it was good to see Dave Manning knocking it about as that's what he does next.

   “Young Cleave bowled well – he has worked hard on his off-spin in the nets during the winter and it's great to see a local lad who has come up through the youth teams take his first five-wicket haul for the club.”

  

Bradninch v Shobrooke Park

THERE was a crash, bang-wallop finish to the derby clash between Shobrooke Park and Bradninch which went right down to the final over.

   With three balls to go the scores were level, then Shobrooke's Matt Bamber clubbed a six off Paul Nott to give his side victory by four wickets.

   Bradninch had posted a respectable 244 for eight in their 50 overs with Zimbabwean Ryan Butterworth anchoring it all together with 52 in the middle order.

   Tim Piper (48) and Dan Hardy (35) put up 70 for the second wicket, Butterworth and Piper added 53 more for the fourth then Joel Murphy (41no) and Simon Bailey added another 50 at the end.

   Pick of the Shobrooke bowlers were Brian Randall (3-51) and Phil Anning (3-52).

   Shobrooke's anchorman was Richard Pyle, who was 73 not out at the other end when Bamber launched his match-winning blow.

   Along the way Pyle removed Murphy from the attack by clouting him for a couple of sixes and shared stands of 50 with Jon James (46) and 69 with Anning (40).

   Pyle levelled the scores   in the last over with a four and a single before Bamber wrapped things up.

  

Braunton v Abbotskerswell

ABBOTSKERSWELL moved out of the bottom two in the A Division by the skin of their teeth after winning by four runs at Braunton.

   Aussie James Brown was the leading run getter with 42 as Abbots struggled to reach 140 for nine in their 50 overs.

   Next best for Abbots with 19 was former captain Steve Short, whose stand of 48 for the fourth wicket with Brown was as good as it got. Aron Owen (15), and Danny Full (13) chipped in with modest contributions that turned out to be vital.

   Miserly spells from Mark Lathwell (4-15 off nine overs) and Colin Hack (2-18) made progress hard for the Abbots' batters.

   Andy Paddison made 40 as Braunton started whittling away at the total, but lacked worthwhile support at the other end.

   Marcus Green (5-36) and Brown (5-37) reduced Braunton to 74 for seven, 101 for eight then 111 for nine in reply. A huge bonus for Abbots came when Green snared ex-Somerset and England batsman Lathwell second ball.

   Just when it seemed Abbots couldn't lose, Mark Mitchell and Hack (12) started nudging and prodding in a stand that got Braunton within five runs of victory.

   Time wasn't a problem – Braunton had 14 overs to go – but a Brown full-toss was. Mitchell hit it straight back at the bowler, who claimed a return catch to win the game.