ANTHONY Griffiths marked one of his rare appearances for Sidmouth 2nd XI with an unbeaten 112 in that 147-run win over Topsham St James that keeps the team top of the D Division East.
Griffiths, a former 1st and 2nd XI skipper with a couple of county appearances on his cricket CV, has only played a handful of times this season. With nearly 8,000 Devon League runs to his name, Griffiths remains an asset to any side.
Robbie Powell (63) and Griffiths put on 136 for the fourth wicket towards a Sidmouth total of 280 for eight. James Docherty, the current captain, made 31 more during a follow-up stand of 53.
Jack Miell (3-44) was comfortably the most effective of the Shells’ bowlers.
Sidmouth bowlers George Bower (4-16) and Ben Fisher (3-35) then got to work on the Topsham top order. Only Matt Williams (24) and Jamie Gilley (30) survived for long in a running total of 87 for six.
Lower-order resistance took Topsham’s final tally to 133 all out.
SHOBROOKE Park stay hard on the heels of leaders Sidmouth 2nd XI at the top of the D East table after thrashing lowly Cullompton 2nd XI by 123 runs.
While it remains neck and neck between Sidmouth (218pts) and Shobrooke (215) to determine who goes up as champions, Cully are looking in the opposite direction.
Cullompton (89pts) are so far adrift at the bottom of the table they could be mathematically relegated this Saturday if they lose to North Devon 2nd XI,. who are one of the teams they have to pass to reach safety.
Chris Simpson (101) and David Gesterkamp (105) both thwacked rapid centuries for Shobrooke in a hefty score of 334 for six. They put on 177 for the third wicket.
Sineth Asantha (9-3-19-0) was Cully’s most economical bowler.
Cullompton were in all sorts of trouble at 61 for five after an initial duffing-up by Jonty Brett (4-32).
George Hobbs made 90 not out batting at number seven to take the score to a respectable 211 all out.
Two wickets each for Howell Brandwood and Joe Harris finished the task.
BUDLEIGH Salterton 2nd XI pummelled Ottery St Mary 2nd XI by 193 runs in a one-sided affair.
Budleigh amassed 325 for eight in a 45-over game with Lee Russell taking 120 off the Ottery attack.
Russell and Lloyd Murrin (51) put on 118 for the third wicket, which was bettered by Russell and Harvey Shipton (74) adding 138 for the fourth.
Ottery found Budleigh wickets hard to come by, although there were two each for Will Harrison and Albert Southall-Brown.
Ottery probably weren’t going to make a chase of it at 100 for three – Matt Brewster (34) and Harsha Liyanage (23) the run scorers – but a respectable reply looked likely.
Budleigh’s Joel Murphy changed the complexion of the game with a five-wicket haul that sent Ottery tumbling to 132 all out. Three wickets in 10 balls for three runs across two overs did the damage.
Southall-Brown was the last man standing on 16 not out when Murphy wrapped things up.
WHIMPLE sent Barnstaple & Pilton to their third defeat in a row when they skittled them for 74 and went on to win by eight wickets.
Amazingly, Barnstaple & Pilton are still fourth in the league table. But the gap between them and the top two has widened from nine to 29 points. Promotion hopes have gone out of the window.
James Poole (17) made one of just three double-digit scores for B&P as they careered from 50 for three to 66 for eight then 74 all out.
Andrew Codling (3-22) and Mitch Brooker (2-13) took out the front line batters; Greg Benson (5-13) mopped-up.
Third-placed Whimple had the game wrapped-up inside 17 overs. Luke Phillips (24) made the early runs. Brooker (21) and Charlie Gordon-Lennox (13) were the not-outers at the end.
NORTH Devon 2nd XI clambered up the cellar steps towards D East safety thanks to a seven-wicket win over Braunton 2nd XI.
The Instow outfit have occupied one of the relegation places since league tables were first published in round two, and are going to be there for at least one more week.
North Devon have to overhaul Ottery 2nd XI to get out of the bottom two – and need two points to do it.
A positive result against bottom side Cullompton 2nd XI this Saturday might just hoist North Devon out of the bottom two. An Ottery defeat in their derby date at Whimple would help!
Simon Wright (3-15) got into Braunton’s top four before Simon Murfet (86) stuck around to top score in a total of 155 all out. Nigel Cross made 30.
North Devon’s batting line-up was strengthened by the inclusion of batter Dan Bowser as part of an end-of-season selection shake-up. He made 92 not out and put on 78 unbroken with Freddie Tucker (44no) to secure the win.
