
Harry Everett reports from the Plate finals day held at Stoke Gabriel CC in summer sunshine on the final Sunday of August 2024.
Cornwood ran out winners on the day, defeating Topsham St James by 22 runs.
Semi-Final – Topsham St James beat Hatherleigh by 2 wickets
In their semi-final Division 2 Topsham came up against Division One Hatherleigh. Winning the toss, TSJ put their opposite numbers into bat and made the breakthrough in just the second over when some superb fielding by Sophie Brandom left Eloise Maxa (2) run-out. Just five balls later, Lily Harlond claimed her first wicket of the day, knocking over the stumps of Sophie Evans (0). The final ball of the next over saw Liv Woollam bowl Mae Moore (2) to leave Hatherleigh 14-3.
Olivia Cooper (7) was the next Hatherleigh wicket to fall as she was trapped lbw and it was just three balls later when Woollam was celebrating her third wicket when she bowled Ella Brown (0). Amalie Brock and Hester Presswell then put together a much-needed partnership for Hatherleigh, taking them to 73 runs before the pair fell with Brock (21) trapped lbw by Rosie Miller and Presswell (17) caught by Ffion Barham off the bowling of Sophie Brandom. Barham was playing her first TSJ match for over two years as a late replacement for Lucy Humphreys, her all-action fielding helped ensure TSJ had a target of 74 to reach the final.
The TSJ response got off to the worst possible start when opener Miller was bowled first ball by Presswell. Barham and Jamie-Leigh Benson put together a partnership of 29 before Presswell knocked over the wicket of Barham (12). Brandom was the next batter in but was heading back to the clubhouse when she was caught behind by Brown from the bowling of Brock for five.
Woollam faced just two balls before she was unluckily bowled by Libby Carroll with a ball which stayed low under her bat. Captain Hannah Clark was the next TSJ batter in and her knock of 23* proved vital in leading her team to victory. A partnership of 20 with Benson (13) before she was trapped LBW by Evans and 18 with Charlotte Austen-Rigby (3*) saw TSJ claim a place in the final with just under four overs to spare.
Semi-Final – Cornwood beat Clyst St George by seven wickets
The second semi-final saw a fairly comfortable win for the eventual winners.Having elected to bat Clyst made just 83-4 from their 16 overs. Donna Weeks the star as she had two of the three run outs and also took the only wicket credited to a bowler. Freya Cleveland and Ali West were the only two batters to pass 20.
Cornwood lost just three wickets in the quick chase, Laura Bale was out for 29 and skipper Megan Hayward retired, but it was still knocked off in 7.1 overs. Maisie Cleveland had two wickets and the best economy rate of the Clyst bowlers.
Final – Topsham St James vs Cornwood
Again winning the toss, TSJ invited Cornwood to bat and the TSJ bowlers continued their excellent performances from the previous game. It took Woollam just six balls to claim the first wicket of Laura Bale (1) and Harlond just five balls to bowl Olivia Gibson (2).
Cornwood survived the third over without losing a wicket but lost one in each of the next three, Harlond bowling Kat Frost (11) and Donna Weeks (0) while Woollam bowled Megan Hayward (4), leaving Cornwood 37-5. Helly Simpson and Sofia Oxenham put together an important 27 run partnership before the former was run-out by Benson who cleanly caught the ball bowled by Brandom and smartly threw the ball at the stumps with Simpson (15) having begun to run as the ball was a free-hit. Brandom had Cornwood all-out with the first ball of the 12th over when she bowled Sarah Martin (1) to set TSJ a target of 69 to claim victory.
The TSJ batting reply again started badly with Barham being bowled on just her second ball by Frost. Just like TSJ, the Cornwood opening bowlers took multiple early wickets with Frost claiming the wickets of Miller (5) and Woollam (0) caught by Martin; and Simpson bowling Brandom (2).
At this point, TSJ were in some trouble, still needing 53 runs with 3 wickets remaining. Captain Clark could not replicate her important knock from the semi-final, reaching 11 before she was run out by Martin. Austen-Rigby was next in and swept a lovely four before being bowled by Weeks. Harlond and Benson tried to mount last-wicket heroics but they were left with just too much to do and when Harlond (2) was caught behind by Hayward from the bowling of Weeks, Cornwood claimed the 22-run victory. Benson was the not-out batter on 7.
Congratulations to Cornwood on winning the 2024 Super8s Plate finals.