One win out of two not enough to lift Devon off bottom of T20 qualifying pool | Harvey (pictured) hits unbeaten 78 in Wiltshire run hunt |

DEVON’S hopes of qualifying for the Super12 round of the National Counties Twenty20 competition mean they have to pull something special out of the bag in Sunday’s double-header against Dorset at Sandford (11am).

A six-wicket win over Wiltshire in game one at Salisbury on Sunday got Devon up and running in the tournament after back-to-back defeats by Cornwall in first-round meetings at Blundell’s School.

Wiltshire hit back in game two with an 11-run win that left Devon propping up the Group Four table of five teams.

The top three teams qualify for the Super12 round on August 3, from which four pool winners will progress to finals day.

Devon can still make it into the top three, but they need at least one win against Dorset (and preferably two) to go into the final qualifier against Herefordshire with a realistic chance.

Sunday’s double-header will certainly challenge the nascent captaincy skills of Devon’s T20 skipper Lawrence Walker, who will be leading the county side out on his home ground for the first time. He was only appointed three weeks ago.

Devon’s six-wicket win over Wiltshire in round one was a relatively comfortable affair once the chase got under way.

Jack Mynott (40) and Jake Goodwin (80 from 47 balls) were Wiltshire’s leading run scorers in a total of 169 for five. They put on 115 for the second wicket.

Devon trio Tom Hodgson (5.00), Callum Harvey (4.00) and Sam Read (5.25) kept the runs down.

Harvey, who opened in the injury absence of form batter Sam Elstone, then struck an unbeaten 78 ­ – seven fours, four sixes – to steer Devon home with four balls to spare.

“We were put under pressure by Wiltshire and recovered well to restrict then 169 when, at one point they were looking at 190,” said Tim Western, Devon’s performance director.

“The strong crosswind and short boundary made it difficult to contain their top order. 

“It was pleasing that we had clear plans when bowling compared to the Cornwall game. 

“We needed somebody to match Jake Goodwin's impressive innings and Callum Harvey took on that responsibility.”

Wiltshire were bowled out in their last over for 132 in game two with Tom Cheater’s 18-ball 50 at the top of the order the stand-out score.

There were two wickets each for Devon bowlers Hodgson, Harry Passenger, Jon Triner and Sam Read.

Devon arrived at the final three overs of the run hunt needing 45 to win with five wickets intact – and couldn’t quite make it. No batter reached 20 in a Devon reply of 121 for nine.

Looking back on the game, Western said: “On a wearing pitch, Wiltshire scored probably too many in the power-play.

“As in the first game, we recovered well and regularly took wickets. At 92 for six it would've been good to maximise our advantage. But some good, late-order partnerships took them to 132.

“With a pitch now deteriorating it was difficult to hit boundaries and our ends never really got going.

“Wiltshire bowled well, using the conditions, and the run right quickly grew to more than ten an over. In the end, we were only 12 runs short of the target.”

Western said both games were ‘valuable learning experiences’ for a young team, and added: “We will take the positive aspects into the games against Dorset at Sandford.”