Unbroken century stand from father and son leads Babbacombe 3rd XI to 142-run victory
By OLLIE SMITH
Opener Paul Sutherland hit 17 boundaries as he scored a ton against Cullompton 4th XI in the H Division Central. After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Babbacombe were 104-8, Sutherland just reaching the early 30s as his son, Fred Sutherland came in to bat.
What happened next was an unbroken century stand between father, Paul, and son, Fred. Thirteen of Sutherland Senior’s 17 boundaries came during this partnership, who brought up three figures himself in the 37th over.
Sixty-six Cullompton extras helped push the score north of 200, as Babbacombe set the visitors 225 to win. The next best score was a joint effort between Sutherland junior and Paul Lightowlers, both scoring 13.
There were wickets for Lightowlers (3-6), Matthew Kiernan (3-20), two for Josh Ballard (2-3), and one apiece for captain Will Backholer and Jacob Machin, as Cullompton were dismissed for 82 in their reply, the last five wickets falling for five runs.
Babbacombe captain, Backholer, was delighted with Paul Sutherland’s contribution, “Paul was fantastic with taking singles early on, before he accelerated through the back end of the innings.”
“It was so important for someone to take control of our batting, especially after there weren’t many contributions from others.”
Backholer was also pleased with Sutherland junior’s role in his side’s win, “Fred was fantastic, he took on plenty of the strike, and hung around to make sure we fulfilled our overs.”
“We were helped by lots of extras, and without Fred sticking it out, we wouldn’t have had those added to our score.”
“When he walked out to the middle, I would’ve been happy with a score of around 120.”
On his side’s bowling, “we bowled superbly, Matty Kiernan and Josh Ballard especially impressed with the ball. Both were unplayable!”
“It’s always easier as a captain when you have bowlers taking wickets and restricting the wides and no balls. Hopefully this win can kick-start a strong season for the 3rd XI.”
Babbacombe’s next match is an away trip to Torquay & Kingskerswell’s 4th XI.
