WILL Ruddell and James Bovey smashed their way into the Tolchards DCL record books with a hefty partnership of 322 in Alphington & Countess Wear’s 286-run win over Exeter 2^nd XI.

Ruddell and Bovey went straight into the league’s all-time top ten at number five thanks to their stand.

The all-time record remains the 356 compiled by Braunton batters Steve Hunt and Nigel Cross against Seaton back in 2021.

Ruddell and Bovey’s stand is the greatest in the league this season. They overtook Yelverton pair David Ackford and Ben Grove, who put on 304 against Plymouth on day one.

Opener Ruddell made 204 and shared in a stand of 322 with captain Bovey, who was eventually run out for 120.

Exeter’s bowlers inevitably came in for some rough treatment, although Aashay Dube’s two for 51 from nine overs stood out.

Exeter, who were not at full strength, were bowled out for 96. They were 34 for five before Mark Gribble (16), Mike Wilkinson (17) and Adam Fradgley (19) put up some resistance.

Ruddell (3-15) and Tynan Hill (3-28) did most of the damage with the ball. Toby Jones claimed two for 27 against his former club.

BRAUNTON’S lead at the top of the C Division East has been slashed to 10 points following a second successive defeat, this time at the hands of Budleigh Salterton 2^nd XI.

Braunton were 22 points clear at the pinnacle before losing to Uplyme and now Budleigh, who scraped home by one-wicket in a rain-affected and low-scoring encounter at Kelsey.

No Braunton batter made more than opener Sam Bithell (24) in Braunton’s all-out total of 156. Sam Reddick made 22 and Jon Baglow was 20 not out when the final wicket fell.

There were two wickets each for Budleigh bowlers Kamalaka Posapalli, Finlay Shipton, Oscar Simms and Ryan Harris-Cotton.

Budleigh’s to-win target was brought down to 143 in 41 overs and they got there with five balls remaining.

Opener Ollie Roper (55) and Donovan Robinson (43) took Budleigh to 106 for three on the chase, which was looking like a done deal then.

As Wickets tumbled to the spin of Andy Paddison (3-21) and medium pacer Andy Norman (2-30), Budleigh stumbled to 129 for seven and 140 for nine.

Fin Shipton (9no) and Oscar Sims (1no) found a way to get Budleigh over the line and 13 points clear of the drop spots.

SEATON hammered depleted Uplyme & Lyme Regis by nine-wickets to make it three wins on the spin in the C Division East on the way up to fourth in the table.

Uplyme had serious manpower problems due to the guest list for clubman Mark Batey’s wedding, but were determined to make life as hard as possible for Seaton.

Backs-to-the-wall resistance was the order of the day for stand-in openers Harry Booth and Bruce Maltby, who faced 46 and 48 balls respectively making eight runs each!

Andy Harrison (28) and Max Felgate (36) adopted a similar approach during a stand of 55 for the fourth wicket. Dan Lyle was 23 not out in Uplyme’s 45-over total of 138 for six.

Adam Bilston and Ben Morgan had two cheap wickets each for Seaton – the latter at a cost of just 10 runs from nine overs bowled.

Seaton had the game won by the start of the 21^st over with opener Damian Baxter (29) the only casualty.

Matt Hewer (43) and Tristan Wakeley (53) were the not-out batters when the game was settled.

OTTERY St Mary defeated C East relegation worriers Sidmouth 2^nd XI by three wickets in a low-scoring affair.

Will Goodall’s opening contribution of 37 off 79 balls was as good as it got for Sidmouth, who were bowled out for 107. They had been 32 for five before Goodall and Jordan Fowler (17) dug in.

Joe Burch (3-15) and Jody Clements(3-27) had three wickets each for Ottery. Freddie Eul-Barker took two in five balls at the end.

Ottery’s path to victory was far from straightforward as they were 43 for five then 60 for seven on the chase.

Burch (27no) and skipper Sam O’Nyons (12no) ensured there were no further slip-ups.

Henry Lester (3-34) led Sidmouth’s bowling effort, aided and abetted by Liam Dalton (2-27).

Defeat leaves Sidmouth one off the bottom of the table and 14 points away from safety.

HEATHCOAT 2^nd XI remain stuck fast in the C Division East basement following a six-wicket reversal at the hands of Exmouth.

Opening bowlers Assad Ullah bagged five wickets for 15 runs to send Heathcoat reeling to 66 all out. Connor McCann (2-19) and Elijah Pyne (2-8) were the supporting acts.

There were more extras (14) than individual scores off the bat in Heathcoat’s innings. Sam Reed was 16 not out when the last wicket fell.

Exmouth wobbled at the start – they were seven for two thanks to an opening salvo from Josh Kallaway (2-32) – but Josh Austin (27) and Rahmatullah Mohammadi (18no) made the rest of the chase academic.

Heathcoat are now 22 points adrift at the bottom of the table. Their cause was not helped by Budleigh Salterton’s one-wicket win over promotion-chasers Braunton, which widened the gap.