PREMIER DIVISION – JUNE 9
EXETER captain Jon Tipper praised Arnie Searle for his coolness under fire as the County Ground side went joint top of the Premier Division with a four-wicket win over Sandford.
Sandford, who were top on Saturday morning, hoisted 263 for seven in their 55 overs with David Lye (59) and Trevor Anning (68) making half centuries and Adrian Small (44) just missing out.
Exeter, who share top spot with Torquay following the Seasiders' seven-wicket win over Paignton, paced their reply to perfection and won with four balls to spare.
Searle was 65 not out when the winning runs were stroked having shared in a make-or-break stand worth an unbroken 59 with Tipper for the seventh Exeter wicket.
“It was a great knock by Arnie which required tremendous concentration on his part,” said Tipper.
“Sandford knew he was a threat to them so they gave him all the verbals you can imagine – and a bit more besides.
“Arnie just let it go over him and decided to let his batting do the talking instead. I thought it was a great speech!”
Searle didn't do it on his own though as Rob Holman (70) and Marshall Hood (50) gave Exeter just the start they needed by getting the score up to 133 for two.
Hood fell bowled by Richard Foan, then Holman went lbw to Matt Theedom.
Searle, who hit six fours and three sixes, was joined at 207 for six with eight overs left by skipper Tipper and between them they knocked off the rest of the runs.
Earlier, Lye and Small had got Sandford up to 145 for four before Anning was unleashed on the Exeter attack.
Anning hit four sixes and the same number of four before Tschepo Legodi (3-52) bowled him swinging across the line.
BARTON v CHUDLEIGH
CHUDLEIGH won after three heavy defeats on the trot with an 89-run verdict at Barton that will convince them they have got a chance of surviving in the Premier Division after all.
Chudleigh didn't get the best of starts as form batsman Derek Perry was out first ball – lbw to Tom Porter (2-32) – which was just the start Barton wanted.
Barton captain Aaron Williams will have been happy enough to bowl Chudleigh out for 157 through with Jack Porter (3-23) doing the damage in the middle and Andy McVeigh (2-1) tidying up at the end.
Fehan Adil's 44 was crucial for Chudleigh – his departure to a disputed catch was a later talking point – and when he went the dependable Mark Solway (21) and Mark Heather (28) put on valuable runs.
Barton had 65 overs to make the runs, which must have looked like a cakewalk, but were in trouble almost from the word go as Heather (3-5) tore into the top order.
Nick Watkin and Jame Toms were both bowled then Williams fell to a sharp caught-and-bowled to give Heather three wickets for five runs in his first six overs.
Imran Abbas was still there for Barton though and as long as the Pakistani professional was in residence they had a chance.
Then came another controversial dismissal – Abbas stumped by Solway off Adil when he thought the ball was dead and was replaying his previous shot outside his ground – which proved the beginning of the end for Barton.
Chudleigh spinners Adil (4-15) and Bhanu deSilva (3-33) ran through the Barton middle order as the home side collapsed to 26 for five, then 50 for eight and on to 68 all out with 27 overs to bowl.
Chudleigh are still bottom on 43 points, but Barton are only three points ahead in the second drop spot and Exmouth are a further point ahead in the pile-up at the bottom.
Exmouth play Barton this Saturday and it goes without saying there is a lot riding on that match even at this relatively early stage of the season.
NORTH DEVON v BUDLEIGH SALTERTON
BUDLEIGH Salterton found out the hard way that North Devon' recent run of form is no flash in the pan when they posted a hefty 267 for eight at Instow and still lost by two wickets.
Newly promoted North Devon, on most rival captain's tip list as doomed for an immediate return to the A Division, won for the third game in a row when they defeated Budleigh.
As their two previous wins were over Chudleigh and Exmouth, neither of whom are setting the world alight this season, a meeting with defending champions Budleigh would be a better pointer to North Devon's chances of staying up.
On the evidence of this win, which lifts North Devon to fifth in the table, their chances look pretty good.
Former Devon all-rounder Paul Brown top scored for Budleigh with 89 scored in 91 minutes and containing five fours and the same number of sixes.
Early runs came from Sandy Allen, moved up the order to open following the seasonal departure of student James Beeny, who made 85 of the first 156 on the board.
New Budleigh captain Bob Dawson, who has taken over while Andy Procter is working abroad, chipped in with 25 before Matt Westaway had him caught behind.
Matt Dart, the left-arm spinner whose seven-wicket haul did for Chudleigh two weeks earlier, took some punishment on his way to two for 83, which included a sharp waist-height return to catch to remove Allen.
North Devon lost Stuart Rhodes early on to Barnstaple-born Matt Webb, who briefly played for them a few seasons back, but made inroads into the target through Rob Gear (58) and Neil Bettis (58), both of whom were out on 139.
The jitters set in as Mark Hedden got settled them saw Martin Gear, Westaway, Rob Ayre and Warren Miller disappear as six frontline batters came and went for 47 runs.
Fast bowler Tom Allin proved to have some stickability though and his stand of 58 with Hedden proved crucial.
Hedden, who only hit three boundaries, fell to the returning Webb for 46 with another 23 needed for victory.
Allin (42no) and Ross Burbage scrambled the winning runs between them with four balls to spare in Webb's last over.
PLYMPTON v EXMOUTH
PLYMPTON are off the mark at last in the Premier Division as they ended a six-game wait for a win with a 30-run victory over visiting Exmouth.
New signing Mike Zantiotis was the man of the moment for Plympton with five wickets for 34 runs as Exmouth were derailed chasing 228 to win.
Zantiotis, formerly with the much-missed United Services club and latterly Plymouth Civil Service, was among the wickets early on as Exmouth dipped to 79 for six in reply.
Twin brothers Will (61) and Adam Gingell (29) then set about salvaging the situation on their own and weren't far away from doing it.
Will put on 68 for the sixth wicket with Mike Paine that slowed Plympton's victory bid considerably.
After Paine and Adam Buzza went in the same over to partnership-breaking bowler Andy Walter, Adam Gingell joined his brother to add another 38 in one last effort to save the game – and possibly even win it.
Saddiq Mohammad bowled Will Gingell at 185 then Zantiotis accounted for the other Gingell to give Plympton that long-awaited win.
For Plymouth skipper Keith Donohue it was a satisfying win as it was achieved without star batsman Jeremy Williams and Devon spin bowler Arwyn Jones, both of whom were working.
Just as satisfying for Donohue will have been seeing newcomers like Zantiotis, Alex Trevarthan and Dan Rowbotham all adjusting to the step up from the B Division and making contributions to the game.
All three came over Plymouth CS during the close season and, for this match, were Plympton's leading performers. Trevarthan top scored with 34 while Rowbotham made 24.
An unusual feature of the game was the huge number of wides that Exmouth gave away – 50 in a total of 72 extras.
TORQUAY v PAIGNTON
TORQUAY elbowed their way back to the top of the Premier Division table – or at least a share of it with Exeter - following a workmanlike seven-wicket win in the derby clash with Paignton on the Recreation Ground.
Skipper Matt Bulbeck claimed three wickets, and there were two each for James Hudson and Jon Baglow, as Paignton were bowled out for 130 in the 47 th of their 55 overs.
All Torquay had to do was bat properly – and shut out some of the chit-chat going on in the background – and a 20-point maximum was theirs for the taking.
When Matt Hunt hit Tim Ward out of the ground for six in the 32 nd of the 63 overs available to Torquay, it was all done bar the shouting.
Winning skipper Bulbeck praised his bowling colleagues for setting victory up by helping to get Paignton out so cheaply.
As for winning the league outright, it's a bit early yet for that sort of talk.
“It proved a good toss to lose as I was going to bat first as well – and was glad I didn't,” said Bulbeck.
“There was nothing wrong with the wicket, although it was a bit slower than expected, but there was something in it for the spinners.
“James Hudson's two for 44 doesn't do him justice as he deserved a couple more wickets for the way he bowled.
“I see that Devon are looking for an off-spinning replacement while Andy Procter is working overseas. They could do a lot worse than consider James – and they get a useful batsman as well.
“We bowled in the right areas, got Paignton out relatively cheaply then did nothing really silly when we batted.
“I shouldered arms to a Ewing's arm ball and got bowled, but we only needed two to win then and that wasn't going to affect the result.
“Can we win the title this year? We are as well equipped as anyone to do it but there isn't much between all the sides at the top and I can't see the situation becoming clearer until well after halfway.”
Paignton's batting was a bit of a fits-and-starts affair that lost its way in the time it took to slip from 86 for three when Gavin Ewing (20) got out to 103 for eight.
Riaan Jeggels batted four minutes short of two hours for the 56 that stopped Paignton from collapsing altogether. He will have been hugely disappointed to chase a wide one from Usman Malvi and snick it through to Torquay keeper Justin Yau.
Torquay's chase was largely routine, starting with Tim Western (35) and Ed Yeo (29) posting. 53
Bulbeck (24) and Hudson (28no) took Torquay almost the rest of the way there before Bulbeck got out and Hunt came in for his six-to-win cameo.