ABBOTSKERSWELL heaped further pressure on Chudleigh when they defeated the basement club by five wickets at Two Mile Oak.
Chudleigh were all out for 159 in the 45th of their 50 overs, a target Abbots knocked off with more than six overs to spare.
Victory moves Abbots into the top four, ahead Plympton who lost to Cornwood.
Defeat widens the gap between Chudleigh and safety from eight points to 17. Brixham’s win at Bideford did the Kate Brook outfit no favours.
Steady batting by Mark Solway (29) and skipper Matt Heather (25) got Chudleig up to 112 for three. Then the rot set in.
A three-wicket burst by Sam Carpenter sent Chudleigh spinning to 117 for six. Noah Tobias picked off Jamie Farrow in a running score of 119 for seven.
Rob Clarke (16) and Saqib Hasan (14) hung around for a while, but the damage had been done.
Abbots were keen to protect their bonus points and took their time knocking off the runs,
James Westlake (52) and Eddie Smouth-Cooper with an 85-ball knock for 26, set the chase in motion.
Nick Watkin, went in at 93 for two and batted through for an unbeaten 28 to clinch victory.
Clarke, arguably the most reliable off-spinner in the A Division, had four Abbotskerswell wickets for 33 runs.
Winning skipper Charlie Hill felt keeping the runs down in the first 25 overs was an important element of the win.
He added: “ After drinks we dominated the game and bowled them out cheaply on a good pitch.
“James and Ed steadied the ship early on and built us a platform for us to win he game.
“Contributions from everyone meant we eased home in the end.”
