C Division East round-up – week 16: Dormer (pictured) and Doulton complete Seaton run chase | Win over Ottery keeps Heathcoat hard on Seaton's heels
SEATON preserved their narrow, one-point lead over Heathcoat 2nd XI at the top of the C Division East with a four-wicket win over relegation worriers Upottery.
Rob Tasker hit a top score of 86 for Upottery, and skipper James Mitcham made 42 while the pair put on 115 for the third wicket, towards a total of 247 for six.
Damian Baxter (2-42) was the lone Seaton bowler with more than one wicket. Kai Croft (1-23) offered little to hit in his nine overs.
Upottery’s Matt Frost (3-23) gave Seaton’s top order a tough time – and at 94 for four they were in no-man’s land. But not for long.
Sam Goodier (42) and Archie Trott (53) moved the score along to 167 for five. Although they went in quick succession to Dan Stevens (2-38), Jack Dormer (50no) and Tim Doulton (26no) completed the chase by putting on 80 unbroken.
HEATHCOAT 2nd XI remain hard on the heels of leaders Seaton in the C East promotion race thanks to an eight-wicket hiding administered to Ottery St Mary.
There is just a point in it between Seaton (278pts) and Heathcoat (277) with two games to go. In a division with only one promotion place, there is no benefit in finishing second.
Ottery got to 225 for eight in 45 overs with opener Alex Clements top scoring on 71. He put on 63 with Rhys Norman (31) and 567 with Hayden Johnston, who went on to make 40.
Dan Pugsley (2-34 and Lee Dixon (2-38) were Heathcoat’s only multiple wicket takers.
Aussie opener Jeremy Bedford led the Heathcoat chase with an unbeaten 133 at run-a-ball rate. It was his second C East ton of the season – he has a 97 not out beside his name as well – and took him to 699 league runs for the summer.
Ton Lock (49) put on 136 with Bedford to launch the chase. Dan Butler and Will Hall-Tomkin (14no) kept Bedford company after that.
JAMES Edworthy reminded the Exmouth team management what he could do with runs and wickets in the 2nd XI’s 157-run demolition job on arch rivals Exeter 2nd XI.
Edworthy, left out of the 1st XI in the latest round, made a useful 31 as Exmouth totted-up 229 for nine in 45 overs.
It was Edworthy’s five-for-22 bowling haul when Exeter batted that would have really caught the eye.
After Asad Ullah (3-17) took out three of Exeter’s top four batters, Edworthy took over.
Edworthy opened his account with the wicket of surviving opener Max Cockram (23) then worked down the card as Exeter were skittled for a paltry 72.
Connor McCann had top scored for Exmouth with 55. After he and Matt Edworthy (38) went, the board ticked over thanks to veteran Greg Marks (23) and Andrew Murray (23).
Best of the bowling from Exeter was supplied by Aashay Dube (4-52). Max Newbery (1-25) offered little to hit.
Victory moved Exmouth up to sixth in the table, where they are 14 points clear of Alphington & Countess Wear in the second relegation place.
ALPHINGTON & Countess Wear gave themselves a fighting chance of dodging the drop in the C Division East with an 85-run win over Bradninch & Kentisbeare 2nd XI.
Defeat leaves Bradninch & Kentisbeare propping up the C East table with 26 points to find from their final two games to get out of the bottom two.
Alphington & Countess Wear, still immediately above them are only four points from safety now thanks to this win.
Opener Wessel Oosthuizen (56) gave Alphington & Countess Wear a useful start. Run from Greg Newcombe (44) and Ben Pinkney (67) helped the total reach 238 all out.
Bradninch & Kentisbeare’s Morgan Lamey (3-32) prospered at the end of the A&CW innings after Ankit Badwal (2-28), Tom Kittow (2-25) and skipper Eliot Acton (2-55) toiled away earlier on.
Bradninch & Kentisbeare got to 124 four without too many problems – runs in the book for Lamey (29), Toby Hard (22) and Freddie Gillett (38no), then went into a terminal decline.
Six wickets fell for 29 runs scored – Gillett among them for a top score of 46 – as B&K collapsed to 154 all out.
Oosthuizen (2-15) accounted for the key wicket of Gillett. James Bovey (3-14) disposed of the potentially dangerous Acton. Pinkney (2-20) was the other significant wicket taker.
SANDFORD 2nd XI came up short on the chase against Uplyme & Lyme Regis, but not by a lot!
Uplyme totalled 225 for seven in 45 overs with Dan Magee leading the way with 72.
Sandford were all out for 220 with more than three overs to go, which condemned them to a five-run defeat.
Sam Farrow (29) and Steve Batey (16) were Uplyme’s early run getters. Bailey Levin (43) and Magee put on 89 for the fourth wicket towards the final product.
Ellie Bishop (3-40) was the most successful Sandford bowler. Ben Handley (3.22), Alfie Butterfield (4.11) and Pete Steer (1-43) gave little away.
Sandford skipper Steer may look back on the passage of play between 99 for two and 107 for five as a setback. Handley (40) and Joe Hopkins (31) were among the casualties.
Losing press-on batter Archie Osborne on 14 due to a pulled hamstring soon after was another debilitating factor.
Andrew Fry (25), Steve Lyon (21) and Ollie Knight (34) all chipped away at the deficit before Sandford ran out of batters.
Jack Lamb-Wilson (3-41) had Handley and Hopkins in his stash. Batey and Farrow claimed two wickets each.
