DEVON will be looking for quick runs and a lead close to 300 before lunch once the third and final day against Wiltshire at Sandford gets under way.
Zac Bess (32) and Matt Skeemer (14) are the not-out batsman in Devon’s second-innings total of 178 for six. The lead is 222, which is not enough to tempt skipper Alex Barrow into declaring just yet.
Wiltshire, 61 for one overnight in reply to Devon’s first innings total of 337 for eight, were bowled out for 293 in the 81stof the 90 overs available to them.
Wayne White, the former Lancashire and Derbyshire all-rounder job sharing with Somerset’s Peter Trego as Devon’s match pro this season, took five wickets in a row either side of lunch and booked in innings figures of seven for 62.
White’s seven-wicket haul puts him joint ninth in the three-day record books opened in 2001. He shares the slot with Andy Procter, who had identical figures against Berkshire in 2006.
Uzair Qureshi top scored for Wiltshire with 81 off 132 balls – he was White’s third scalp – and put on 95 with captain Ed Young for the fourth wicket.
Young (42) went in the penultimate over before lunch and Qureshi departed four balls after the interval.
Tom Morton came and went for a couple and at 196 for six Wiltshire looked a bit wobbly. Brad Dawson held the bottom half of the order together, wringing 97 more runs out of the final four wickets before he was last man out for 42.
Devon, 44 runs ahead on first innings, would have hoped to be in a better position than 222 in front at the end of day with six wickets down.
Tahir Afridi and the new ball accounted for James Burke and first-day centurion Matt Thompson, who was dispatched for a second-ball duck.
Skipper Barrow (21) and 16-year-old debutant Ben Beaumont put on 58 in quick time. Beaumont fell for a run-a-ball 51 in the final session, during which Jamie Stephens (29) went as well.
Dave Tall, Devon’s director of cricket, said White bowled exceptionally well in tough conditions for his bumper haul.
Tall added: “Another big plus was the way we were disciplined in the field and stuck at it to make sure we had a lead.
“We had disruptions as George Allen fractured fingers, which meant he could not keep and Alex Barrow had to do it.
“I was impressed with the way Ben Beaumont batted for his first 50 after getting a third-baller in the first innings. He showed grit, determination and backbone that is good to see in a 16 year old.”
Devon 337-8 (M W Thompson 132, W A White 62, M P Skeemer 46no) & 178-6 (B A Beaumont 50, Z G G Bess 32no, J A Stephens 29), Wiltshire 293 (U A Qureshi 81, E G C Young 42, B C Dawson 42; W A White 7-62). Devon 8pts, Wiltshire 6.
