Other matches: Holmes hat-trick not enough for Honiton | Seven wickets for Burke | Lewdown embarrassed + more

Adam Holmes - performed the hat-trick for Honiton against North Devon and was still on the losing side!!

E DIVISION EAST

A CENTURY stand between Jonathan Sapwell and Neil Shillabeer pointed Topsham St James towards a six-wicket win over Honiton.

Sapwell (67) and Shillabeer (38) put on 115 for the first wicket as St Jamers chased down 147 to win with more than 11 overs to spare.

By the time Shillabeer was third out on 126 the job was just about done.

Honiton’s total of 146 all out owed plenty to a rescue act from last man out Willy Graham, who made a top score of 51. Ross Treleaven (2-16) and Rhys Norman (4-21) had Honiton reeling at 59 for seven before Graham got showed some stickability.

E DIVISION WEST

TAVISTOCK 2nd XI entertained a weakened Plymouth 3rd XI looking to continue their recent run of good results. Marc Lewis returned to the side after a two-week hiatus and Kev Alexander made his long awaited debut after his comeback from injury.  

Lewis lost the toss and Tavvy were asked to field.  Swanepoel and Lewis took the new ball and kept things tight. Jason Degg was batting well however and runs were ticking along nicely for the visitors. 

Swanepoel (1-22) got the much needed breakthrough for the hosts, trapping Moore (11) LBW, and the Lewis (1-28) got in on the action bowling Johnson (0). Tavvy were struggling with the basics and runs continued to flow, until the introduction of Ryan Burke. Firstly he got the important wicket of Degg for a well-made 53, before bowling Bridgett (19). 

Another two quick wickets of Rushdie (6) and Henwood (19) followed before another important wicket, that of Vile (46), brilliantly caught at slip by the skipper, put a halt on the scoring.  

Five wickets wasn’t enough for Burke though as he went on to clean up Henwood snr  (0) and Sharp  (0) to finish with magnificent figures of 7-30. The other wicket to fall came courtesy of a stumping off veteran Gauler (1-41). Plymouth finishing on 171 all out. 

After a small Break, Openers Webber and Burke set about the chase on what still looked a belter of a wicket. 

Burke  (3) was the first to perish, adjudged to have snicked one through to the keeper off Henwood  (1-26). Bott (6) fell in similar fashion to Sharp  (also 1-26). 

Webber was going strong at the other end and when Joined by Scott-Munden, made quick inroads into the target. 

Webber fell just after the first drinks break, caught off the Bowling of Degg for 55, Degg (3-36) then picked up the wickets of McGahey (5) and Scott-Munden for a brisk 53.  Gauler (4) fell lbw to Prosser (1-5) before Nick Coe (16no) saw Tavvy home with more than 15 overs to spare. 

LEWDOWN were on the wrong end of an embarrassing 10-wicket defeat when they ran into Ivybridge.

Jack Williams (26) made the only score above 20 as Lewdown were skittled out for 105. James Head (4-19) bested Arthur Johnson (3-51) and Lewis Clarke (3-5) in the Ivybridge bowling department.

Andy Johnson (29) and Callum King (66) needed just 13 over to knock-off the runs.

F DIVISION WEST

SOUTH Devon 2nd XI got back on course after their defeat by Paignton with an 88-run win over Babbacombe 2nd XI.

There were runs all down the order for South Devon from Mark Andrews (69), Ian Shepherd (27), David Lear (36no) and Jack Allen (27no) all chipping in.

Allen and Lear put on 80 unbroken for the sixth wicket after Babbacombe slowed-up mid-innings against Dom Passmore (3-35).

Babbacombe got to 82 for one in reply, thanks largely to Gary Ibbotson (32) and Will Biddles (46). Neither got much change out of teenage seamer Otty Yip, whose eight overs only cost 18 runs.

The turning ball proved Babbacombe’s undoing as spinners Andrews and Lear reduced them to 93 for five and 103 for six.

Andrews went on to claim four wickets for 14 runs and with Kalen Warne (2-34) getting in on the act the visitors were all out for 144.

Matt Kitto, the South Devon captain, said: “We were determined to get back on track and both Mark and Dave showed their experience with bat and ball to help us close out an important win.

“I was also pleased to see our young guys making good contributions. Jack's partnership with Dave was exactly what we needed when it looked like our innings might grind to a halt.”

ASHBURTON second team made the short trip to Chudleigh to play their counterparts. After winning the toss and batting they posted 159 all out mainly thanks to skipper Phil Pascoe (57). Tom Rush (24) and Toby Pascoe (18) also chipped in.

Ashton West (2 for 13) and Luke Pascoe (1 for 31) then reduced the hosts to 12 for 3. Despite economical bowling all round and further wickets for Marcus West (1 for 36) and Nail Kemp (1 for 23), Chudleigh number 3, Dan Britcliffe could not be moved.

Even when Britcliffe was eventually adjudged lbw, skipper Pascoe sportingly called him back as he had hit the ball. Britcliffe (90no) then saw his side to the victory in the final over.

F DIVISION EAST

EXWICK 1st XI came home with the win after a hard-fought match against Exeter 3rds at Winslade Park.

With several regulars missing, including skipper Jamie Withers, Steve Forbes took charge of the side under blue skies and was asked to bat first on what looked an unpredictable surface.

Steve and Tom Cox opened up and had to fight for every scrap as Exeter’s young openers Gribble and Wraith probed with consistent line and length. Their grasp was such that ‘Wick only managed 7 runs from the first 10 overs. However, with no wickets down, the game started to change when the opening bowlers were replaced.

The runs now started to flow, and Cox in particular tested the middle of his bat with a flurry of boundaries. Cox eventually departed for a fine 42, ending an opening stand of 64 after being undone by some extra bounce. 

Philip Walker strode to the crease and got straight into his work, scoring almost exclusively in boundaries, and now Forbes was hitting the fence with regularity too.

The score had raced to 125-1 in the 29th over before an unfortunate run out did for Forbes (45) and then Walker (33) top-edged to point. With the set batsmen out, Mishra (0), Criddle (1) and Hammond (0) couldn’t get starts and joined them back in the hutch. ‘Wick had slumped to 138-6. 

With 7 overs left it was up to Mike Nunns to try to get to 160+ if possible, with support from the tail. He got off the mark with a six and then plundered two more big sixes on the way to 35 from 20 balls, while English (6) and Richardson (2*) ably played their role. The innings finished in style, with a 4 from Jenkins and an above-par 185-9.

Exwick got off to a fantastic start with a wicket in the first over of the run chase, Walker having Hurrell caught behind by stand-in ‘keeper Hammond, diving forward.

At the other end, Mohammed ensured the innings wouldn’t be off to a sedate start, swinging from the heels and occasionally connecting with some big shots. His tendency to wander down the wicket after a shot earned him a polite warning from skipper Forbes, but he continued in the same fashion. He was superbly caught for 17 by Richardson, when the ball came down with snow on it off the bowling of Dan Groves.

Sam Criddle entered the fray and picked up a wicket in his third over, but a partnership of 71 between Cockram and Bailey started to worry the visitors. Forbes turned to Jenkins, Richardson, Cox and Mishra, but the breakthrough wouldn’t come and the young batsmen were playing well.

With 5/over needed and 6 wickets in hand, the skipper brought back the opening bowlers. Nunns broke through with the wicket of Cockram, caught well by Groves for a well-played 35. Shortly after, Walker struck twice in quick succession, having Bailey caught by Forbes at mid on for 40, and then clean bowling Gribble. Walker would finish with fantastic figures of 3 for 8 from 8 overs.

All that was left was for Sam Criddle (3-31) and DJ (1-30) to wrap up the innings, giving Exwick a deserved and hard-earned victory by 20 runs.

F DIVISION EAST

ADAM Holmes could not have done much more for Honiton 2nd XI despite his team coming out in the wrong side of the result.

Holmes top scored with 44 for Honiton in their 40-over total of 148 for eight. Nathan Groves was next best on 36.

North Devon’s chase appeared to be in trouble after they lost four wickets on 35 – Homes performing the hat-trick to take three in a row.

Rob Mann  (24) and Ali Ashworth  (38) got North Devon going again and despite more wickets for Holmes – he finished with five for 30 – North Devon scraped home with four balls to spare and their last two batsmen at the crease.