Back

 

Exeter v Barton

JAMES Toms with the bat and Damon Calland with the ball earned Barton a winning draw in the game away to Exeter.

   Toms hit a top score of 79 as Barton totalled 166 for five in a rain-reduced allocation of 43.4 overs.

    Calland then took three for 32 from 10 overs as Exeter were limited to 154 for five in reply – also off 43.4 overs.

   The unusual number of overs bowled by both sides was a compromise reached between the umpires and captains over what appears to be a loophole in the competition rules.

   Barton's time limit for batting had expired while they were off due to a break for rain and a quick scan through the league handbook couldn't find a rule to cover unfinished overs.

   All sides agreed the fairest thing was to allow Exeter the same number of overs and balls – that way there could be no argument!

   Toms had a bit of luck on his way to 79 as Exeter put him down three times. Fellow opener Aaron Willams was in and out for 10 – Simon Bird had him caught behind – which brought Imran Abbas in to join Toms.

   The stand worth 106 between Toms and Imran (41) provided the backbone to the Barton innings and ended when Exeter skipper Jon Tipper took a return catch hit straight back at him to remove Imran.

   Toms, who hot eight fours and a six, was going for the big hit down the ground off Adam Gribble that didn't quite make it and was pouched by Bird at long-on.

   Exeter paid for a slow start, during which Bird (16) and Rob Holman (17) appeared becalmed at times, and struggled trying to make up lost time.

   The target was 100 to win in the last 22 overs with nine wickets in hand,and that's when Calland was wheeled into the attack.

   Calland's miserly spell – and an almost as mean one from Abbas – stopped Exeter putting their foot down.

   Crucially, Calland took the wickets of Marshall Hood (31) and potential dangerman Glenn Lammonby (16), to add to Bird's, whose 16 off 69 balls didn't help the Exeter cause.

   Arnie Searle (24no) and Tipper (17no) batted out for the draw after realising the game had slipped away from them.

  

   North Devon v Torquay

USMAN Malvi unleashed a devastating spell of bowling on North Devon as Torquay cruised to a crushing nine-wicket win at Instow.

   The Indian pace ace, Torquay's overseas signing this season, took six wickets for 29 runs as North Devon were bundled out in fewer than 20 overs for a paltry 50. None of the North Devon batsmen made it into double figures.

   Left-armer Jon Baglow had one wicket   - that of Aussie Warren Miller – and Ed Yeo needed eight ball at the end to take the final two wickets to knock over the tail enders.

   Torquay were barely troubled knocking off the runs, which they did in just 13.2 overs for the loss of opener Jonathan Rice for 13.

   Opener Tim Western batted through for 27 not out and ha skipper Matt Bulbeck with him at the premature end.

   Victory gives Torquay an early lead at the top of the Premier Division table after two games.

   Defending champions Budleigh Salterton, the only other team to win on the opening day of the season, were rained off against Exmouth on Saturday so had to be content with just six points.

   Paignton, who defeated Sandford in the latest round of fixtures, were the only other winners on the second Saturday. But as they lost to Budleigh first time out they are lagging behind as well.

   Skipper Bulbeck hailed Torquay's performance as one of their best in the three years he has been at the club. But two games into the season there was wisely no talk at all of winning the title just yet.

   “It could not have got any better for us and was definitely one of our best performances since I have been with the club,” said he the former Somerset and England U19 pace bowler.

   “Usman had to much pace and moved it about too much for the North Devon batsmen. The wicket helped as it was damp on top but hard underneath.

   “Our fielding performance was first rate – we caught everything and didn't give them a chance.

   “When you bowl a side out for 50 it would be a struggle not to win, but we went about it in a thoroughly clinical way. You cannot ask for more than that.

   “Although we beat Exeter last week chasing 200-odd, this was a much better performance.

   “It sets us up nicely for Budleigh this Saturday at the Rec. That game will be our first real test.”

   North Devon captain Rob Ayre was down in the dumps after the mauling inflicted on his side.

   “When there has been rain about there are good tosses to win and I felt we could be in trouble the moment I lost this one,” said Ayre.

   “Usman bowled well, but we didn't do ourselves any favours either.

   “Among the unplayable deliveries there were a few too many loose shots that cost us wickets.

   “I was very disappointed that we showed little enthusiasm to fight it out when it started to go wrong.

   “Most sides have a performance like this in a season and if this is ours out of the way then in some respects I am glad.”

  

   Sandford v Paignton

MIKE Pedley bagged his first five-wicket haul for Paignton to set up a 25-run win at Sandford.

   The former Barton and Abbotskerswell seamer, now in his third season at Queens Park, claimed five for 43 as Sandford were bowled out for 184 chasing a target of 210 to win.

   Victory was just the tonic Paignton wanted after their first-day reversal by Budleigh seven days earlier – and included a great innings to sign in with by Zimbabwean Gavin Ewing.

   Ewing, missing from the team that lost to Budleigh due to a finger injury, came in a nervous 33 for three and went in to make 91 before he was last out at 209.

   The only downside for Paignton was a second successive miss-out for Eastern Province rising star Riaan Jeggles, who was yorked by Sandford pacer Matt Theedom on his way to a career-best six for 50 in the league.

   Skipper and wicketkeeper Justin Mann didn't want to dwell to long on the downsides, preferring to concentrate on where Paignton got it right.

   “Riaan is getting some good balls at the moment, but he is a quality player and over the season will do okay for us,” said Mann.

   “Gavin Ewing had a great knock. He paced it perfectly and had good support from James Hope and Tim Ward.

   “You savour any win at Sandford as it is a hard place to get a result at. We were put in on a really wet wicket   so I was happy to have 209 to defend.

   “It was always going to be a difficult chase for Sandford and it was just the right day for Mike Pedley to have his best league figures for us.”

   Paignton didn't make the best of stars with Simon Edwards, Seb Benton and Jeggles all going cheaply. Theedom picked up two wickets while Benton ran himself out.

   Hope (21) and Ewing repaired the damage by putting on 69 for the fourth wicket and would surely have made more had they not gone for an ambitious second run. Hope was stranded when Simon Ashplant threw down the stumps.

   Ewing, who scored at run-a-ball rate during his first 50, carried on with Ward (23) to added another 51 for the fifth wicket.

   Theedom's second spell yielded four more wickets, but Ewing wrung another 56 runs out of the bottom of the order before he was last to go, caught behind off Richard Foan (2-45).

   Sandford's reply was a mirror image of Paignton to start with as they were 34 for three – Pedley doing the damage – then 105 for four following a fightback by Richard Tucker (21) and Trevor Anning (52).

   Losing big-hitter David Lye second ball – he was bowled by Stephen George (2-34) – did Sandford no favours at all.

   Tucker perished when he tried to hit Jeggles over the top and was well caught by Ward at deep mid-on.

   Sandford needed Anning to stay there to have any chance of winning the game – what they didn't need was Ward taking an identical catch to his first one, this time off Ewing.

   Thereafter Sandford went into a steady decline with Pedley, working through the lower order.

   Eight overs out Sandford were down to their last pair of Asa Wright and Simon Ashplant, who battled in vain to save the game. They survived almost six overs before Rob Chandler got the breakthrough Paignton wanted by trapping Ashplant lbw.

   Sandford skipper Foan wasn't too disheartened by the outcome as he felt it wasn't such a bad toss to lose after all.

   “The pitch was damp and helpful to the seamers,   but the run ups were wet and it was   difficult for our pacemen to run in and bowl,” said Foan.

   “I would say Paignton had the best of the conditions to bowl in and we were chasing 30 more than I would have liked in the conditions.

   “Manny (Justin Mann) stood up to the stumps to everyone and that made it difficult for our batters to step out and play a few shots.

   “Paignton had more seamers than we did and that was   decisive. Trevor Anning and Matt Theedom bowled well for us, but when the time came we had no one to back them up.”