Atkinson and Bowser earn North Devon 'win from nowhere' over Sidmouth | 'Josh Atkinson played the innings of his life' – NDCC skipper Tom Popham

Josh Atkinson assaulting the Sidmouth bowling to put North Devon on course for victory

By CONRAD SUTCLIFFE

JOSH Atkinson and Dan Bowser were North Devon’s men of the moment in an unlikely one-wicket win over Sidmouth on the Fortfield.

Sidmouth’s all-out total of 210 looked a shade under par when North Devon started their reply – and looked more than enough when the visitors were 118 for eight in reply.

Enter Atkinson who turned the game on its head with some hefty blows that had the Sidmouth fielders chasing leather.North Devon's James Tyson hits out – he made 32

Atkinson’s stand with Harry Nicholl grew and grew until it reached 78, at which point it was broken by Jordan Fowler. The target was down to 15 to win with Atkinson still there on 52 not out and about to be joined by last man Dan Bowser.

Bowser isn’t any old tail ender though. He usually opens the batting for North Devon and has done the same thing for the England Disability XI.

A dislocated finger has forced Bowser to take himself off during the Sidmouth innings, only to return briefly and take to catches, the second of which aggravated his injury.

While Bowser shored-up one end Atkinson carried on batting at the other end and was on 61 not out when the winning runs were scored at the start of the final over.

Tom Popham, the North Devon captain, described it as: “A win from nowhere!”

He added: “We didn't manage the chase very well in the middle overs, but Josh Atkinson played the innings of his life.

“Josh showed everyone how to bat on that deck with a very good 61not out to win the game. 

“Bowser gets a special mention for going in at number 11 to help take us home. Plenty of courage and team spirit shown.”

Highlights of the Sidmouth innings were a stand of 82 for the second wicket between Jamie Baird (42) and Isaac Thomas (53) and some robust batting down the order by Henry Armstrong (41) and Charlie Miles (44) that sparked a recovery from 112 for seven.

North Devon spinner Ben Howe took four wickets and seamer Jack Moore had three more.

North Devon’s innings was a stop-start affair punctuated by flurries of runs from Howe (20), Moore (25) and James Tyson (32).

Dan Bowser (left) and Josh Atkinson on the way off after sealing victory over SidmouthJordan Fowler’s five-for-40 haul, coupled with two wickets each for Will Murray and Taylor Ingham-Hill, appeared to have won it for Sidmouth before Atkinson cut loose.

Cameron Grainger, who captained Sidmouth in the absence of Luke Bess, said his side let a win slip away from them.

“It was a roller coaster of a game, which we were extremely disappointed to lose. 

“After a strong partnership between Thomas and Baird, we lost a flurry of wickets and our innings came to a halt. 

“Henry Armstrong and Will Murray helped to steady the ship with some vital runs and Charlie Miles had a miraculous innings, supported well by Jordan Fowler, which gave us a score with an outside chance of defending.”

Grainger said the bowlers put Sidmouth in a winning position, but were not backed-up as well as they could have been.

“With the game in our hands, we couldn't take the last couple of wickets; which wasn't helped by poor fielding, dropped catches and some chances that just didn't go our way, “ said Grainger.

“It was a game we should have won. Although the loss hurt badly, we can learn a lot from it.”

Positives for Grainger were the performances of spinners in Charlie Miles, Taylor Ingham-Hill and Jordan Fowler. He was less impressed by the batting.,

“The batting ultimately let us down, with almost all dismissals simply unforced errors,” said Grainger. 

“We do have a deep batting line up, however we need to value our wickets going forward.”

North Devon's Ben Howe, who claimed four Sidmouth wickets