CORNWOOD were involved in a one-sided affair at Westward Ho! where they thrashed Bideford by 10 wickets in a game that lasted less than 26 overs from start to finish.
Skipper Matt Skeemer took five Bideford wickets for 21 runs and there were two for Adam Goodliffe and a couple of run outs in a sorry total of 45 all out.
Jack Ford made 20, no one else made more than five and five batters failed to muster a run between them.
Charlie Finan (35no) and Aaron Richards (3no) needed just 8.2 overs to knock off the runs.
Said Skeemer: “The pitch offered us a bit but the way we bowled and fielded was brilliant and a great start to the season.”
Paul Heard, the Bideford captain, said:
Cornwood put the ball in areas that asked questions, but all our batsmen made very poor decisions.
“We didn't adapt to the seaming conditions and paid the price on some very loose shots.
“We must learn not to have a one dimensional approach to batting. All we can do is try and change it for next week.”
IT may be a new season but they same old problems hurt Ivybridge in their A Division opener at Abbotskerswell.
New skipper Nick Watkin bagged four wickets, James Williams took three and there were two at the top for Charlie Dowling as Abbots dismissed the Bridge for 122 with more than 11 overs un-bowled. Collapsing from 76 for three to 97 for nine did not help.
Opener Adam Huxtable made a patient 54, left-hander Dinesh Raheja survived 74 balls for his 22 and James Sharp nudged 20 off 19 balls at the end in a disappointing total reminiscent of last season’s weekly struggle for runs.
Abbots raced to an eight-wicket win before the halfway stage, taken there by second-wicket pair James Westlake (47) and Watkin (42no), who put on 112.
Zipho Zondo, who is Ivybridge’s overseas player this season, was stuck in Zimbabwe due to a visa issue.
PLYMPTON ran into relegated Bradninch in top form and lost by seven wickets.
Christian Bunney made a top score of just 18 for Plympton, who were all out for 125 in the 42nd over.
Three other batters in the top six made double-figure scores – Ackford, Wrench and Walliker – but none of them went past 17.
Ross Acton (3-30) and Gary Chappell (2-15) led the bowling effort, supported by teenage spinner Josh Farley with two for 19 on his A Division debut after transferring from Kentisbeare.
Chappell (39) and Acton (41) made a 75-run dent in the deficit. By the time Craig Donohue (2-19) removed Acton the target was 15 to win. Game over.
Eliot Acton, the new Bradninch captain, said it was a great result to start with, but added a note of caution.
“Nice to get the first game over early and see the top order in a bit of form, but I expect tougher tests to come,” said Acton.
“We started slowly with the ball but once we got the breakthrough, it was one-way traffic.
“The par score was probably 180 so I was happy to bowl them out for 125.
Josh Farley bowled well on debut with two wickets and Tallan Burns also had an impressive spell in the middle overs.
“Batting wise, we got off to a quick start and only lazy shots meant we lost any wickets.”
Alex Carr, Plympton’s new captain, was realistic in his summation of the game.
“We knew it was always going to be a tough game as any side coming down from the Premier Division is going to be a strong unit and we had four players unavailable,” said Carr.
“We started well but Acton bowled a really good spell in the middle which, combined with a couple of tough decisions, knocked us off our stride.
“Despite the low score we felt we could get back in the game if we managed to get Acton and Chappell early. Unfortunately, our bowling up top was far too poor for players of their ability.
“As for positives - all of the batters looked good for their starts. We just need to convert them into serious scores.
“And Craig Donohue bowled a really good spell in a tough situation when the game was gone.”
THERE was no happy return to the A Division for Tavistock, who were two-run losers at home to Budleigh Salterton.
Skipper Shaun Daymond felt Tavvy did not score as many runs as they could or should have done – and the bowling lacked control at times.
Budleigh were made to work for their win though and at 131 for eight with 12 overs to bowl it was game on. Luke Jefferson’s unbeaten 33 saw Budleigh home.
“We were very under cooked in all departments,” said Daymond.
“The top-order batting let us down. Although we scraped to 161 had we had batted as we should the game was there to win.”
Tavvy slumped to 21 for four against the Murphys – dad Joel (3-22) and lad Matt (2-36) and were little improved at 64 for seven with Dave Manning not long out for 20.
Sean Cleave (20) and Daymond (46) added 44 then James McGahey (19) and the captain notched 53 for the ninth wicket. Jack England (2-0) knocked over the tail enders in four balls.
Budleigh got to 78 for one – Marc Troman (22) and Ed Doble (23) the main run scorers – then slumped to 95 for six as Daymond twirled through the middle order.
Jefferson went in at 81 for four and was the anchorman in stands worth another 81 that won the game.
