Five-wicket haul for Whitlock as Devon end T20 campaign with a flourish

The Devon squad for the double-date against Cornwall at Instow. Back (left to right): Max Curtis, Dan Goodey, Matt Thompson, Ed Middleton, Hugo Whitlock, Josh King, Ben Green; front: Josh Mailling, Zak Bess, Alex Barrow, Toby Codd, James Degg

CONRAD SUTCLIFFE REPORTING FROM INSTOW

DEVON condemned Cornwall to a Unicorns T20 Cup wooden spoon with back-to-back victories at Instow in the final round of group matches.

Both sides went into the game knowing they could not qualify from the pool stages for finals day at Wormsley in August. Devon were bottom of the group and Cornwall were immediately ahead of them.

Skipper Alex Barrow hit 67 in the first game of the day to put Devon on course for a 13-run win in a low-scoring affair.

Game two was disrupted by rain and reduced to 17 overs a side. Cornwall made 115 for six – Matt Robins top scoring on 30 – which Devon knocked off with five balls to spare and eight wickets in hand.

Hugo Whitlock - five wickets for 35 runs on his Devon returnDevon had not won a game until beating Cornwall in the morning match. Their second win lifted them ahead of Cornwall, who lost six out of eight in the pool.

Dave Tall, Devon’s director of cricket, said it was an upbeat way to end what had been an uninspiring T20 campaign.

“In most of the games we lost we were not that far away and a largely inexperienced side has been learning as it has gone along,” said Tall.

“We were far more disciplined when we bowled – having Hugo Whitlock back made a difference – and our spinners (Middleton and Codd) bowled with control.

“There was a plan for the game and we executed it pretty well.

“We move on to three-day cricket next week against Wales and these results set us up nicely for a new challenge.”

Godfrey Furse, the Cornwall team manager, said his side had the same issue holding them back in virtually every game.

“The top five did not score enough runs often enough,” said Furse.

“We bowled and fielded well all the way through – we showed that again in the matches against Devon – but could not get runs on the board.

“The players accept where we have gone wrong and what we have to do. We have tried changing the batting order and that is something we will be addressing next season.”

Barrow and former captain Matt Thompson (23) were Devon’s main scorers in the 13-run win in game one, when they defended a total of 123 for six.

Matt Rowe (3-18) and Tom Dinnis (2-17) had the headline figures among Cornwall’s bowlers. Greg Smith (3-0-14-1) gave little away.

Robins (31) and Rowe (30) got Cornwall chasing and bits and pieces took the running total to 101 for six with two overs to go and four wickets in hand. Zak Bess only conceded four runs in the penultimate over and 19 to win from Dan Goodey’s last six balls proved too many.

Devon’s run-chase in game two was a largely perfunctory affair. Openers Bess (28) and Josh Mailling (23) took the pursuit to 54 for two. Green (37no) and Barrow (25no) did the rest.

SCOREBOARDS

Devon 123-6 (A W R Barrow 67, M W Thompson 23; M Rowe 3-18), Cornwall 110-9 (M Robins 36, M Rowe 20; D J Goodey 3-23, Z G G Bess 2-21, H M Whitlock 2-22). Devon (2pts) bt Cornwall (0) by 13 runs.

Cornwall 115-6 (M Robins 30, M Gribble 33no; H M Whitlock 3-14), Devon 117-2 (B G F Green 37no, Z G G Bess 28, J H J Mailling 23, A W R Barrow 25no). Devon (2pts) bt Cornwall (0) by 8 wkts.