EAST THREE

FENITON defeated Alphington & Countess Wear by 37 runs in a rain-affected East Three game trimmed down to 20 overs a side.

Marc Russell (63 off 59 balls) and Jonathan Pyle (42 off 18) were the main run scorers in Feniton’s total of 155 for three.

John Buckand chipped in with 33 off 29 balls and shared a key stand of 80 with Russell for the third wicket.

Opener Matt Taylor got on with it for A&CW by striking seven fours on his way to 45 off 38 deliveries.

Jack Mills with 25 off 14 kept one end ticking over, but A&CW were not scoring enough runs quickly enough at the other.

Feniton bowlers Russell (2-14 off 3) and Jack Tucker (1-13 off 3) made life hard for A&CW’s batters, whose chase ran out of time at 118 for five.

EAST THREE

TOPSHAM St James beat Budleigh Salterton 2nd XI by 20 runs in a home game played at Kenn CC.

St James’ left the Bonfire Field ground in Topsham during the winter and intended to play home games at the nearby University of Exeter ground.

As the university ground is closed due to the Covid-19 crisis, St James were grateful to Kenn for loaning their ground to get the game on.

The game started late due to rain and was initially reduced to 28 overs a side.

Topsham SJ batted first and were 36 for two when a showed interrupted proceedings.

With the game down to 26 overs each Topsham looked to up the run rate when they went back out.

Mark Phillips took full advantage of some short boundaries to make 110 from just 53 balls, leaving Topsham with an impressive 184 for five at the end of their innings. Aiden Pring (32) provided valuable support.

Budleigh batters Steve Booth (44) and Lee Russell (36) ate into the Topsham total. When both were bowled by Phillips (2-28) the game seemed beyond Budleigh.

Some late hitting by Budleigh’s Harvey Shipton (24no) caused some Topsham nerves, but the chase got no further than 164 for five.

SOUTH SIX

ASHBURTON 2^ndXI won the toss and elected to bat on a damp and uncovered Lustleigh wicket. 

Phil Pascoe and Marcus West made a good start against a hostile attack in difficult conditions. Unfortunately, wickets fell at regular intervals but everyone stuck to the task and nearly batted out the 35 overs.

Main contributions came from Robin Lambert (17no) and Jerry Crouch 15.

With the weather improving, batting was becoming easier, and a strong Lustleigh line up was expected to knock off the runs required at a canter. The fact that it took them until the 27th over to reach their target, and with the loss of four wickets tells its own story.

lambert (2 for 13 off 7) and Crouch (1 for 19 off 7) took the game to Lustleigh! Jake Bartram was first change and delivered a superb, hostile spell of left-arm swinging deliveries. His figures (6 overs, 0 for 10) did not tell the full story with three lbw shouts, numerous near misses and batsmen somehow managing to survive.

With A J West getting another four overs in the locker (1 25) and Luke Pascoe (2.4 overs, 0 for 15) bowling better than his figures suggested, Ashes can be very proud of a spirited and promising performance in the field.

NORTH TWO

OPENER Nigel Cross batted from start to finish for Braunton 2nd XI to make 87 in their 93-run win over Bideford 2nd XI in North Division Two.

Cross and Nathan Townsend (41) booked the only scores in double figures in Braunton’s total of 194 all out. John Weeks (4-17) claimed Bideford’s bowling award.

Bideford were 101 for eight when time was called after 35 overs – and 29 of those were wides. Ian Hayter made 26.

North Devon 3rd XI came out on top by 25 runs against Hatherleigh 3rd XI at Westleigh.

Ethan Cross (35) and Jedd Foster (34) put on 41 for the fourth wicket with Steve Carrick (21) joining Foster to add another 41 for the fifth.

 Opener Hayden Sharp made 71 for Hatherleigh and Liam Pyle (29) helped add 61 for the second wicket. Sharp was ninth out in the final over, by when it was already obvious Hatherleigh could not win.

North Devon’s Alfie Reynolds decimated the Hatherleigh batting on his way to figures of six for 16.

The game between Filleigh and Newton Tracey was called off without a ball bowled.

Newton Tracey are at home to Braunton on Saturday and visit Lynton on Sunday, Touring side O S Southampton are the guests at the Lawn on Monday.

EAST EAST THREE

OTTERY St Mary II were beaten by 67 runs at Upylme & Lyme Regis in a game badly affected by the weather.

Tyler Wellman made exactly 100 and home skipper Stever Batey whacked 82 in a rush as Uplyme dashed to 206 for two in just 27 overs after a delayed start due to rain. Their stand was worth 177.

Ottery’s batting time was reduced to 20 overs to make 153 to win and making much of a dent in the target was too much of an ask.

Dan Flower made 25 and Daniel Jeacock 23 in Ottery’s reply of 85 for three.

Ottery have a derby date with Honiton this Saturday.

EAST EAST FIVE

A STRONG Sidbury XI was far too good for a young and inexperienced Topsham St James outfit, writes Mike Tracey. 

The Topsham batting was led by stand-in skipper Adrian Ferraro, who looked completely in control before he fractionally misjudged an on-drive and was brilliantly caught by Ben Pollard - no fewer than four of the Topsham batsmen were out to catches of a quality very rarely seen at this level.

Dan Rees hit three fours in a somewhat unconventional 20, and the rest was down to the youngsters. Topsham included five 14 and 15 year-olds, all of whom acquitted themselves well, even eliciting favourable comments from the opposition.

Reece Miles was perhaps the pick, calmly dealing with 35 balls and scoring 10 good-looking runs before becoming the victim of a wonderful catch by Dave O'Connor. His only blemish was to unfortunately run out Billy Knightley, who was also batting calmly and competently, while Jeremy Tojy, Charlie Ferraro and Vedang Mandalia all looked the part and will undoubtedly score lots of runs in due course. Unfortunately, this was not Topsham's day, and the innings subsided to an all-out total of just 74.

The Sidbury bowling was impressively steady, captain Alex Paget leading the way with a fine 2 for 12 in his six overs. Josh Reed took 2 for 4 in three overs, and Chris Fitzhenry 2 for 16. The other wicket-takers were Barney Stone (1 for 20), and Dave O'Connor (1 for 7).

When Sidbury batted, Ben Pollard and Mark Bishop were rarely in trouble and were cruising towards a ten-wicket victory, reaching 74 without loss. Enter Vedang Mandalia. With one needed for victory, Vedang, who was bowling really well, got a superb off-spinner through Pollard's defence to remove his bails. Ed Chester then essayed a tame pull and Billy Knightley took the catch. Will Foster played two dot balls, and then smashed a boundary to settle the issue.

Vedang ended with a well-deserved 2 for 16. The other bowlers, Billy Knightley, Maddy Ross and Reece Miles all tried hard – Billy was the most economical, and Reece displayed good control, but the batsmen had given them too little to bowl at, and it was difficult to exert any real pressure. Jeremy Tojy kept wicket capably, and could well be the answer to a perennial Topsham problem.