E Division West round-up – week 15: Troake and Small bowl Abbotskeswell to victory over Paignton and closer to promotion – with match action photos
WILL Small and Alex Troake bowled Abbotskerswell 2nd XI to a 21-run win over Paignton 3rd XI that pushed them closer to the E West title.
Abbots are so far ahead of third-placed Stokeinteignhead it is hard to see how they cannot finish in the top two?
And one more win should be sufficient to prevent second-placed Cornwood 3rd XI going past them in the final two rounds.
Erik Gregersen (37) top scored for Abbots, who were grateful to Cameron Gold (32) and Troake (17) for a last-wicket stand of 65 that pushed the score up to 183 all out.
John Bewick (4-39) led Paignton’s bowling effort. Andy Singh and Callum Knight took two wickets each.
Keeper Harry Knight took six catches – one off the bowling of twin brother Callum.
Opener Kevin Francis got Paignton’s response up and running with 52 When he went on 80 for three Singh (37) took over.
Bewick (23) got the chase up to 154 for six. When he was dismissed Paignton folded in a rush to 162 all out.
Small (3-35) and Troake (3-17) did plenty of damage. Gold (2-17) also got in on the act.
STOKEINTEIGNHEAD trounced Teignmouth & Shaldon 2nd XI by 200 runs in the derby date at Hazeldown Oval.
A stand of 139 between Stoke batters Hugo Longrigg (95) and in-form Andrew Thornton-Clarke (51) was a foretaste of what came next.
Anuj Tiwai (71), S K Kuriakose (43) and Chako John (38) took the score up to 383 for eight. Fifty-one extras helped.
Eight bowlers had a go for T&S. Only Mark Lilley (3-54) made much headway.
Teignmouth & Shaldon slumped to 45 for five in reply as Jamie Clinkett (2-29) and Lishoy George (2-37) to the fore for Stoke.
Veteran Kevin Jones (48), Riley Jones (28) and Ben Jones (32) fashioned a recovery of sorts – Kevin and Ben put on 67 – that got T&S to a respectable 183 all out.
Longrigg (3-11) wrapped-up the innings.
WHITCHURCH Wayfarers live to fight another day in the E West relegation battle after beating fellow strugglers Dartington & Totnes by two wickets.
While Dartington & Totnes appear doomed to a fourth successive relegation – they were a B Division team as recently as 2022 – Whitchurch can still dodge the drop.
Beating Dartington & Totnes was a step in the right direction: Third-bottom Bridestowe & Belstone 2nd XI losing to Tavistock 2nd XI cut their safety margin to 14 points.
Openers Jono Lloyd (51) and Justin Osborne (36) put on 78 for D&T’s first wicket towards a team total of 192 for nine.
Other than 37 extras – 29 of them wides – no other batter made more than 20 for the South Hams side.
Josh Vernon (2-29) bowled tidily with the new ball. Ben Hodge (3-25) got into the lower-order batters.
Whitchurch were in squeaky bum territory at 61 for five in reply after running into Lloyd (4-40).
Josh Vernon (32) and Jack MacKenzie (46) turned the game around with a stand of 78 that paved the way for victory.
TAVISTOCK 2nd XI bounced back from their defeat by Teignmouth & Shaldon 2nd XI with a hefty 148-run win over Bridestowe & Belstone 2nd XI.
It was a win Tavistock needed to stay in touch with the promotion pack in the E Division West and had the desired effect. They are just nine points behind second-placed Cornwood 3rd XI.
Openers Jack Smyly (86) and Ryan Burke (68) got Tavvy off to a 129-run start. Ben Evans (25) and in-form Wayne Downham (45) contributed to a total of 288 for seven.
Bridestowe & Belstone managed no batting partnership greater than the 50 put on by openers Noah Metherall (13) and Richard Drake. Despite Andy Brimacombe’s (24) best efforts to hang around, batters kept coming and going with man of the match Burke (5-25) in the thick of it.
Bridestowe & Belstone were all out for 140 with more than 11 overs to go.
CORNWOOD 3rd XI defeated arch rivals Plympton 2nd XI by three wickets in a low-scoring derby date.
Jack Sellick (31) made a top score of 31 for Plympton in their tally of 105 all out. He was ninth to go with the score on 87.
Mike Hodge topped Cornwood’s bowling stats with a return of five for 42.
Cornwood did not have it all their own way on the chase and dipped from 69 for three to 92 for six with Tom West out for 29. Adam Sellick (3-19) was largely responsible for the Wood stumbling.
Bits and pieces – Ethan Carlisle’s 18 being the most significant – took Cornwood to the win that keeps them second in the E West table.
