BRADNINCH have yet to drop a point at the top of the A Division after cruising to a six-wicket win at Budleigh Salterton.

Budleigh were bowled out for 129 in the 49th of their 50 overs – spinner Will Squire taking five for 30 as the bottom half of the batting crumbled.

Rob Craze made 32 at the top of the Budleigh order before he became the first of Squire’s scalps.

Gary Chappell picked up the key wicket of Max Waller  – the Somerset staffer had taken an unbeaten ton off Sandford seven days earlier – and getting him for nine was a bonus.

“Waller was the obvious dangerman – and we managed to keep him quiet all day,” said Bradninch skipper Tim Piper.

Only 2nd XI captain Alex Richardson (23) resisted long as Squire and Cameron Suidgeest (2-18) worked down the order.

Tail-ender James Leat got oto 16 when Andy Buzza cleaned him out.

Gary Chappell’s solid 40 pointed Bradninch in the right direction, there was a brief hiatus as Dan hardy and Ross Acton went cheaply, then Piper and Lautro Musiani wrapped things up.

Piper was 21 not out and Musiani unbeaten on 29 when Bradninch passed the post in the 46th over.

Runs were hard to come by at Ottermouth with Budleigh’s bowlers keeping the lid on the Bradninch batters.

Waller bowled 10 overs of leg spin for 16 runs and Aussie new boy Matt Junk went for 22 in a similar spell. Joel Murphy, the former Bradninch captain now skipper at Budleigh bowled six overs for eight runs.

Off-spinner Craze had two for 32 to keep the pressure on.

Leat got smacked at the end as Piper and Musiani got on with it.

Bradninch skipper Piper said it was a good win for his side over decent opposition.

“Budleigh will win games this year and be fine, but they won't be getting promoted,” said Piper.

He added:  “I thought it was a decent toss to win on a terrible track, but the pitch somehow got worse throughout the day.

“Credit to our batters, who managed to negotiate what could have been a tricky target.”

Murphy said Piper deserved plenty of the credit for getting his side home.

“It was a good innings on his part and showed he has learned a few things over the last couple of seasons,” said Murphy.

Murphy agreed the pitch was not the best, but said it was under water six weeks ago and just getting the game on was an achievement.

He added: “We lost not because of the pitch but for a number of other reasons.

“We didn’t score enough runs as I believe another 30 on that track and Bradninch would have struggled to get them.

“It took them 40 overs to reach 130, which says a lot.

“The other factor was the up-front bowling – theirs was better than ours.

“Will Squire bowled well and showed that at this level players struggle against good spin bowling, at least ours did.”