Baker (pictured) catches the eye with maiden Premier half-century for Cornwood in win over Paignton | 'Very happy for Stan, who set-up the whole innings' – Matt Skeemer

CORNWOOD defeated Paignton by 49 runs to stay in touch with the leading group of clubs in the Premier Division.

Two wins on the spin have hoisted Cornwood into fourth place behind Exeter, Exmouth and then Paignton in the race for the title.

Skipper Matt Skeemer top scored with 70 for Cornwood, who were all out for 265 in the last of their 50 overs.

Charlie Finan (36) found a few balls to hit early on, Stanley Baker (55) and Mohsin Khan (49) put on 94 for the third wicket; then Skeemer carried on until he was the last man out.

It was 15-year-old Baker’s first Premier Division half-century for Cornwood. He played himself in before getting his shots out of the locker, the most memorable a six down the ground off Paignton spinner Rory Medlock. 

To be fair to Medlock (3-50) he mostly bowled with control for Paignton in the middle overs in conditions made for batting.

Aya Gquamana finished with four for 55, two in each spell, and Charlie Ward trousered two at the end.

Paignton were on the ropes from the get-go with of the first four out getting to 13. Skeemer had two wickets and Khan a third.

Harry Ward (45) and Luke Medlock (33) batted Paignton back into the game as they recovered to 106 for four.

Charlie Ward (60no) and Ollie Woodcock (32) kept going, but not quite quickly enough to keep up with the asking rate.

Skeemer (3-30) and Adam Goodliffe (3-52) returned for second spells to go through the stragglers and leave Paignton all out for 216.

Skeemer skipped over his own role when he summed-up the game, preferring to share the credit around.

“I was very pleased with the result and how we got there,” said Skeemer.

“We have been looking to improve with the bat so to win the toss and post a good score was exactly what we wanted.

“Very happy for Stan, who set-up the whole innings. 

“Our bowlers built pressure and, despite some impressive hitting from Charlie Ward, we were always comfortable.”

Harry Ward, the Paignton captain, said he could not fault his side’s effort in what were sub-tropical temperatures.

“I thought we fought hard with the ball on what was a fairly flat deck in very hot fielding conditions,” said Ward.

“We did the hard work to have them 213 for eight, but allowing them to reach 260 was costly. A couple of dropped catches didn’t help. 

"Credit to Cornwood: they batted well, and Stanley Baker’s innings was very good , especially for a 15-year-old.

“Cornwood bowled exceptionally well in the first 10 overs, making scoring very difficult.

“We showed good character to take the game deep, with Charlie batting superbly. In the end, 266 proved to be just too many.”

“Full credit to Cornwood they outplayed us with both bat and ball and deserved the win.”