Thorverton's George Daldorph, who took a half-century off Barton<br>credit: Conrad Sutcliffe - no re-use without copyright owner's consent

THORVERTON overwhelmed lowly Barton by 122 runs to stay right behind second-placed Hatherleigh in the A Division promotion race.

While Tavistock (162pts) forge on at the top it could not be much closer behind them where Hatherleigh (146pts), Thorverton (141) and Cullompton (133) are jockeying for position.

Thorverton got as far as 235 all out with nine balls to go ­– George Daldorph top scoring on 58 – then bowled-out Barton for 113.

The top three of Dan Robbins (23), Luke Vukusic (32) and Andy Kingdon (29) paved the way, and saw off Tinashe Kamunhukamwe (3-18) for Daldorph and Sam Jefferson (26) to pass the 200-mark.

In the dash for runs in the later overs, Thorverton lost five wickets for 26 runs. Barton’s Matt Lipton (3-9) cashed in at the end.

Ben Slaviero, filling in as captain for Jake Choules, said: A score around 230 – George made a very good 50 – was around par, and it was good to defend it comfortably with our bowling.

“Having a deep batting line up allowed us to set the innings up for a push at the end.

Barton lost opener Fin Last in the first over and declined gradually from there to 38 for five as Slaviero (3-37), Daldorph (2-13) and Alex Jopling (2-24) got down to business.

Steve Lewis (34no) and Tom Porter (18) delayed the inevitable with an eighth-wicket stand worth 29.

Lewis was still there at the end after Slaviero and Robbins (2-19) accounted for the tail-enders.

Slaviero said: “Early wickets put Barton on the back foot. All the bowlers bowled well in what was an enjoyable andconvincing win.”

Barton’s survival prospects are starting to look slim following this defeat.

One win in 10 games has left Barton 36 points adrift at the bottom of the table. Unless they start winning soon an immediate return to the B Division looks a certainty.

Lewis  did not pull any punches in the post-match summing-up.

“Batting wise up top, we  were nowhere near the levels needed, which was the opposite to the previous two games,” said Lewis. 

“Discipline and patience isn't happening at the right times. Mindsets need to change.”