By CONRAD SUTCLIFFE
CORNWOOD hit rock bottom in the Premier Division when went down by five wickets in the basement tussle against Hatherleigh.
The Corns recovered from a middle-order collapse, that saw skipper Jackson Thompson (39) among the casualties as they plummeted from 79 for two to 99 for six, to make 171 all out.
Ryan Rickard led the fightback with 59 not out – seven fours, two sixes – and was the only batter to last long against Charlie Nielson (2-37), Eddie Jones (3-21) and Paul Heard (2-10 off 9).
“I thought Eddie Jones bowled beautifully and with good control on a turning deck,’ said the Cornwood captain.
Hatherleigh were in all sorts of trouble themselves at 18 for three in reply after early difficulties against Adam Goodliffe (2-30) and Matt Skeemer (2-34). A running total of 51 for four with Tino Mutombodzi just out for 25 was hardly an improvement!
At 89 for five with Jasper Presswell (17) on the way back to the pavilion, the game was in the balance. Cornwood’s sixth-wicket pair of Ryan Davies and Heard had other ideas.
Davies might have had a 26-run head start on Heard, but the newcomer quickly made inroads into the deficit.
Davies got to 50 first, but Heard was hard on his heels as their stand took Hatherleigh within three runs of victory. Heard was on 44 by then and brought up his half-century by launching Goodliffe for six to win the match.
Defeat puts Cornwood in the basement spot previously occupied by Hatherleigh, who have moved eight points ahead of them.
Mark Lake, the Cornwood captain, said his side were almost ‘always in control’ of with the ball and ‘fully deserved’ the win.
Lake added: “Cornwood came at us hard with the ball and took some early wickets, but a sensible partnership between Jasper and Ryan got in back in control.
“Ryan and Paul both played really well and took the game away from them in a matter of overs with some clean hitting.”
Cornwood skipper Thompson believes because of the rain disruption at the start of the season, it is too early to start pressing alarm bells.
“Playing only four games out of eight and with one of those going to the wire, there's no need for us to panic yet,” said Thompson. “I have belief that we will turn this around.”
Looking back at the match, Thompson said: “We got early wickets and put ourselves in pole position, but again we ran into some determined and smart batting by the opposition.
“Unfortunately, we had a succession of wickets in our batting that didn't allow much momentum, but Ryan Rickard played a mature innings and got us to a total we thought would be competitive.
“We have to dust ourselves and go again when Sandford come to us this Saturday.”
