D Division East round-up – week four: Simpson (pictured) steers Shobrooke to 14-point lead at top
SHOBROOKE Park opened-up a 14-point lead over Whimple at the top of the D East table after beating their promotion rivals by 13 runs in the first-against-second clash.
Chris Simpson (53) and Fergus Campey (43) put on 77 for Shobrooke’s second wicket and top-ups from Joe Baker (22) and Richard Pyle (16no) took the tally towards 188 for five.
Nathan Bright (2-21) and Fraser Campbell (2-23) vied for Whimple’s best bowling stats.
Campbell then top scored with 90 – 10 fours, two sixes – to put Whimple seemingly on top at 167 for five. Then Campbell was caught-and-bowled by Campey, which proved the defining moment of the match.
Three wickets fell for in the space of five balls as Whimple’s run chase slid into the bushes. They were all out for 175 with nearly seven overs to go.
Campey (3-32) topped Shobrooke’s bowling stats. Howell Brandwood, Harris and skipper Chris Ford claimed two wickets each.
NORTH Devon 2nd XI were on the end of a two-ton battering during an 85-run defeat at Upottery.
Matt Matravers scored an unbeaten century and James Mitcham went on to 119 not out off 88 balls in Upottery’s total of 305 for two. It was Mitcham’s second successive century in the D Division East.
Matt Broom had already made 47 opening up before Matravers and Mitcham embarked on their 212-run partnership.
Will Popham and David Hartley were the only North Devon bowlers to operate below four runs an over.
Richard Wild gave Upottery a taste of their own medicine with 102 off 84 balls in North Devon’s riposte of 220 for seven.
Opener Josh Arthur made a patient 70 and featured in a 136-run third-wicket stand with Wild.
Andrew Pulman (3-33) was Upottery’s leading bowler.
CLYST Hydon came-up short on the chase against Ottery St Mary 2nd XI in an absorbing encounter at Merryfield.
Ottery’s Rob Johns bullied the Hydon bowling for 84 off 86 balls – five sixes, seven fours – in a total of 238 for six.
Dave Weeks (46) put on 112 with Johns for the third wicket and there were more runs to come from James Buckland, whose 55 not out came from 45 balls.
Four Hydon bowlers took a wicket and there were two run outs.
The game was wide open when Hydon were 118 for three in reply. Haris Reshi had made 38, James Billington had made 21 and Will Thornton was well on the way tov 30.
Losing three wickets for 18 runs put a different complexion on the game as 137 for six left a lot for the bottom half of the order to do. Sophie Brandom (3-54) took two of the wickets to fall.
Chris Holmes (44) and Luke Milton (24) had a go – they put on 62 before Dave Weeks (2-34) split them up – but there was just too much damage to make good and Hydon closed on 225 for nine.
BARNSTAPLE & Pilton beat Bradninch & Kentisbeare by four wickets to claim fourth place in the D Division East.
Eliot Acton (46) supplied the glue that kept B&K’s middle order in business. He went in at 36 for two and was involved in partnerships totalling 131 runs towards a total of 174 all out.
Richie Norman (36) and Ankit Badwal (27) were Acton’s running mates in stands of 39 and 42 respectively.
Barum’s Tom Poole (3-29) enhanced his bowling figures with two wickets in his penultimate over. Joe Hastie, James Roe and Charlie Holm bagged two wickets each.
Bradninch & Kentisbeare had Barum reeling at none for two – Rob Holm and Matt Newton the casualties – but James Poole (25) then Andy Fewings (36) put the home side back into the game.
A stand of 67 between Fewings and Holm put B&P on course for victory. Holm was still there on 34 not out when the winning post was passed in the 41st over.
Bradninch & Kentisbeare drop down to sixth in the table. Barnstaple & Pilton are up to third.
THORVERTON 2nd XI made light work of claiming a nine-wicket win over bottom side Topsham St James.
Jonathan Sapwell (21) and Dan Croxall (30) made early runs for TSJ, then Matt Williams (36) and Deon Kemp (43) put on 71 towards at 45-over total of 213 for seven.
Shane Yelverton (3-17) was the pick of the Thorverton bowlers. Imogen Daldorph and Alex Gibbons operated well below four runs an over.
Rain got in the way of Thorverton’s run chase, but also meant a reduced target of 173 to win.
Andy Daldorph was Thorverton’s only casualty in the 33 overs it took knocking off the runs.
Yelverton (85no) joined Jack Baker (66no) with the score on 17 and the pair cruised to victory without mishap.
