PLYMSTOCK 2nd XI were on the receiving end of a 171-run battering and a nine-wicket one-man show when they visited D West leaders Brixham.
Brixham made 249 for seven in their 45 overs with former captain Tom Hopper top scoring on 69.
Rhys Dallow (24), Chris Lanyon (35), Craig Eaves (28) and Lee Upham (28no) all contributed to the Brixham tally.
Best of the bowling for Plymstock came from Simon Light (3-37) and spinner George Barnicott, whose nine overs only cost 26 runs.
Brixham captain Eaves then ran through the Plymstock batting order with a nine-wicket haul that skittled Plymstock for 78 in just 16.2 overs.
Eaves first victim was surviving opener Paul Birleson, who said: “He was bowling huge in-swingers which were pretty special.”
Luke Dennis (16) was the only Plymstock batter to reach double figures. No one else made more than nine and four batters did not manage a run between them!
Eaves nine-for-18 haul is the third-best ever recorded in the Tolchards DCL D Division West. Ahead of Eaves in the rankings as Ryan Bougourd, now with Bovey Tracey, who took all ten against Stokeinteignhead for Shaldon back in 2016.
The only other nine-wicket haul in the DCL was the nine for 13 claimed by Kingskerswell’s Dave Holley against Ipplepen way back in 1987.
BABBACOMBE stay third behind leaders Brixham and Plymstock after pummelling relegation worriers Whitchurch by 110 runs.
Whitchurch have spent four of the past five weeks on the bottom of the table and this latest loss puts a 20-point gap between them and safety.
It did not help the Whitchurch cause that the had to field with nine men at the start of the Babbacombe innings – and that they dropped top scorer Aiden Lightowlers (58) the first time they bowled to him.
Tim Goodwin (57), Marcus Tanton (34) and J K Kurlan (37) all added runs to the Babbacombe total.
Whitchurch skipper Richard Potts (4-36) slowed Babbacombe after their rapid start.
Whitchurch soon fell behind the clock when they batted and lost wickets at regular intervals.
A total collapse was staved off by Nigel Barriball making 98. He was the last man out with the score on 185.
Sree Sreejith (3-28), Tanton (3-40) and Jack Alcock (2-47) were Babbacombe’s leading wicket takers.
Captain Potts said Whitchurch created some of their own problems, which they were unable to put right.
“We bowled too many short-pitched deliveries that were dispatched by the Babbacombe batsman in a disappointing bowling display,” said Potts.
“Despite a controlled innings by Nigel Barriball, which deserved to be a hundred, the target was too many and was never threatened.”
IPPLEPEN 2ndXI chased to win against Hatherleigh 2ndXI by knocking off 223 to win with more than 10 overs to spare and only four wickets lost.
Cameron Rowlands opened-up for Hatherleigh and by the time he was fourth out for 532 there were 157 runs in the book.
Harry Arden put on 57 at the top with Rowlands, Greg Solkin (14) added 50 more for the second wicket and there was a partnership of 34 with Ruben Forrester.
Forrester went on to make 42 in Hatherleigh’s 45-over total of 222 for nine.
There were two wickets each for Ipplepen bowlers Freddie Harvey, Ben Forsey and Harry Lewis.
The Pens were in no rush at first as openers Marcus Gadie (61) and Toby Holroyd (36) put on 81 patiently at the top of the order.
The tempo quickened once Forsey (41) and Matt Quartley applied themselves to the bowling. Quartley had a look at the first two balls he received from Oscar Moore before getting going.
Eight fours and two sixes later – that’s 44 in boundaries – Quartley was on 48 not out and the game won by six wickets. The end was brutal: Quartley smashing Rowlands for a six then two fours.
Defeat has dropped Hatherleigh down to fourth in the table, but second-placed Plymstock’s hammering at Brixham did them a favour.
Hatherleigh (187pts) are only five points behind Plymstock (192) and four behind Babbacombe (191) in what looks like a three-way scrap for the runners-up spot behind champs in waiting Brixham.
GIRL power was at the forefront of Plympton 2nd XI’s seven-wicket win Barton that moved them closer to safety in the D Division West.
Steph Hutchins, fresh from taking four wickets in the win over Ipplepen 2nd XI last time out, went one better with five for 13 as Barton were dismissed for 143.
And Evie Pitman was also among the wickets for Plympton with two for 33 to help send Barton on their way.
Once Barton’s top three of Lewis Crocker (27), Dave Carter (34) and Finley Last (22) were accounted for, wickets fell steadily. Isaac Rowsell claimed two more wickets for Plympton.
Wickets fell at 27, 67 and 133 during the Plympton chase. Jeremy Williams, the former Devon batsman in the process of making a playing comeback, went in at 67 for two and batted through for an unbeaten 66.
Rob Walker and Surya Suresh contributed a pair of 22s to the chase.
Plympton are still in the D West bottom two, but have narrowed the gap between them and safety to two points.
And a win over Kenn this Saturday will lift them out of the basement as the villagers are the side they have get past to leave the bottom two.
SAM Kidd made a century and Sam Northmore should have had one too as Ivybridge 2nd XI batted Kenn out of the game at Filham Park.
Kidd opened up with Northmore and their stand of 185 pointed the Bridge towards a hefty total of 325 for eight.
Northmore was first out with a ton in sight for 98. Kidd kept going to reach 125 before he was third to go with the score on 274. Dan Smith (22) and Simon Kidd (33) both chipped in.
Kenn bowlers had little to celebrate, although James Gosling’s three wickets were notable as they included century maker Kidd. Harry Gaydon and Evan Conway took two each.
Gosling responded with a ton of his own as Kenn replied with a respectable 249 for six.
Lyle Muir made 50 – he and Gosling put on 188 for the fourth wicket – but an asking rate around seven an over was always too tall an order when no one else made more than five!
Of the eight bowlers deployed by Ivybridge captain Jerry Clough, only Chris Northmore (2-38) took more than one wicket.
