D East review – week 17: Sidmouth still under threat from Whimple in promotion race | Promotion up for grabs in last-day meeting between rivals
THERE is still some mileage left in the D Division East promotion race as it enters the home straight!
Shobrooke Park remain top by a point from Sidmouth after they defeated Braunton 2nd XI by eight wickets.
Next in line are Sidmouth 2nd XI, crushed relegation candidates Ottery St Mary 2nd XI by nine-wickets.
George Primsall top scored for Ottery with 74, and shared a 110-run stand with George Mutter (54), in an all-out tally of 210.
Leo Raichura (3-16) and Matt Parker (3-21) did the bowling damage for Sidmouth.
The run chase was embarrassingly easy for Sidmouth, who were led home by an unbeaten 101 from opener Charles Brock.
Brock and Will Goodall (51) put on 114 to get the ball rolling. Josh Jackson (52no) was in at the end when Brock smashed Kevin Brandom for six to win it and reach his ton in one blow.
Whimple are a further 13 points back in third having done all they could by beating Cullompton 2nd XI by eight wickets.
The last-day twist in the tale is that Whimple host Sidmouth in the final round of fixtures. And if they win big, it could be all change on the last day.
Braunton were bowled out for 180 by a team effort that produced two wickets each for Shobrooke bowlers Howell Brandwood, Chris Simpson, Xavier Warmbrunn and Dan Puddefoot.
Simon Murfet, batting at first wicket down for Braunton, top scored on 81. He put on 52 with Ian Roberts (17) and 50 with James Marsh (12).
Shobrooke openers Andy Steer (60) and Simpson (48) wiped out the first 93 needed.
Steer and Warmbrunn (43) got the target down to two to win.
With 589 league runs at an average in the low 70s, Aussie Warmbrunn has proved an overseas asset this season.
WHIMPLE overpowered already-relegated Cullompton 2nd XI by eight wickets to keep the pressure on top two Shobrooke Park and Sidmouth 2nd XI right to the end.
Robert Jarrett, who went in at 82 for five, was the last man out for a top score of 30 in Cullompton’s total of 129. Opener Jack Grandfield (17) was next best.
Greig Benson (5-38) took out Cully’s front-end batters. Mitch Brooker (3-12) swished through the tail.
Whimple lost opener Nathan Kidd on six and Brooker for 55 with the score on 94. David Drury (27no) and Charlie Gordon-Lennox (34no) finished things off.
BARNSTAPLE & Pilton are on course for a top-four finish in the D Division East after beating Topsham St James by 50 runs.
Fifth-placed Budleigh Salterton 2nd XI are 19 points behind with 20 to play for on the last day of the season. They won’t be finishing any higher.
Barnstaple & Pilton opener James Roe burst through 500 league runs this season with a top score of 67 in a team tally of 211 for eight.
Roe put on 98 with fellow opener James Poole, who departed soon afterwards. Rohan Antony (4-50) and Neil Neil Shillabeer (1-28 off 9) slowed B&P after their brisk start. George Elnaugh, in at 164 for seven, made 27 while 47 runs went on for the eighth wicket.
The Shells did not compose a stand worth more than 44 when they batted – and that arrived after they had been five down for 70. Matt Williams (25) and Jacob Taylor (18) put it together.
Barnstaple & Pilton captain Lee Cole claimed two wickets in the top order, Roe and Zach Newman had two more and there were three for Jimmer Thomas (3-30) as Topsham meandered to 161 all out.
NORTH Devon 2nd XI beat Budleigh Salterton 2nd XI by eight wickets to give themselves a realistic chance of dodging the drop.
Considering North Devon were permanent residents in the bottom two for 14 weeks, and only won once in the first nine games, their revival is close to miraculous.
Not only are North Devon out of the bottom two, seven points against Shobooke Park this Saturday will save them.
Where it gets tricky is if North Devon lose heavily – Shobrooke are the divisional leaders – and second-bottom Ottery St Mary beat Braunton 2nd XI. North Devon are 14 points clear of Ottery and need to maintain as much of that differential as possible.
Budleigh made a respectable 205 for seven in the Sandhills, mostly from their top three. Openers Nick Bolt (65) and Nathanial James (56), aided and abetted by Lee Russell (20), got the running total up to 160 for three. There wasn’t much in the larder after that.
Navindu Vanderbona (2-13) and Nathan Ware (2-19) were North Devon’s main wicket takers. Noah Tovell (9-1-22-1) gave little away.
Tom Ansell, the former Devon opening batsman, made his first outing of the season for North Devon count with 105 not out that made the chase look easy.
Vanderbona made 40 at the other end from Ansell in a stand of 84 that got the ball rolling. Tovell (36) kept Ansell company getting to 159 for two.
James Starkey (20no) was in at the end when Ansell belted Ryan Harris-Cotton for four to win it.
