Win over Hertfordshire not enough to put Devon into NV-Play Trophy last eight | 'A steep peak to trough considering we had come straight off a great victory. To win three out of four and not qualify, feels a bit undeserving' – James Horler
CONRAD SUTCLIFFE REPORTING
DEVON missed out on a place in the last eight of the NV-Play Trophy by a fraction of a run despite beating Hertfordshire at Sidmouth in their fourth and final qualifying game.
There was drama right down to the last few balls on the Fortfield, where Hertfordshire’s tail-enders kept chipping away at a target of 161 to win. They finished nine runs short.
Devon briefly went second in the table, which would have sent them into the quarter-finals, had they stayed there.
There was a similar drama going on at Warminster, where a last-wicket stand of 26 between Toby Greatwood (43no) and Nilesh Bhandari earned Berkshire an unlikely one-wicket win over group leaders Wiltshire. Berkshire had been 101 for eight at one stage.
The final round of fixtures ended with Wiltshire, Berkshire and Devon level on six points each at the top of the table. Net run rate determined the one-two-three as Wiltshire (+1.18), Berkshire (+0.64) then Devon (+0.43). It does not get much closer than 0.21 of a run!
James Horler, the Devon captain, said: “A steep peak to trough considering we had come straight off a great victory. To win three out of four and not qualify, feels a bit undeserving. 
“Unfortunately, we watched the final overs of the Berkshire game and confirmed we hadn’t made it through on net run rate.
“You can pick out points across the games where we could’ve done this or that, but can hold heads high and take learnings straight into the Twenty20 competition.”
Devon batted around two lengthy breaks for rain to make 158 for six in 35 overs. Openers Elliot Hamilton (21) and Ben Privett (46) got away to a 65-run start before the first stoppage.
Seb Linnitt (38no) and Sam Read (19no) provided the bulk of the remaining runs.
Runs per over were hard to come for Devon, particularly, against niggardly bowling from Chimmay Mullapudi (2.83), Jacob Gordon (3.22) and Ben Waring (3.40).
“We were hampered by the rain throughout our innings, and struggled to find momentum, but Linnit and Read finished well to give us a score to defend,” said Horler. “As expected, Duckworth-Lewis provided minimal assistance.”
Duckworth-Lewis set Hertfordshire 161 to win from 35 overs. They set off at speed through openers Ed Hales – 28 off 15 balls with some hefty blows against anything short or off line – and Dominic Chatfield (26).
The balance shifted Devon’s way through spinners Callum Harvey – seven overs bowled, three wickets taken, seven runs conceded – Sam Read and Matt Whalley (2-25). Herts were 75 for five with 14 overs left when Harvey was bowled out.
Back came Herts with Mullapardi (28), Tom Arnold (28) and Waring (16no) all giving it a whack to varying degrees.
Read (2-32) – one for eight from his first five overs – was clobbered around by Arnold as the chase gathered pace. Two huge sixes dragged from outside off-stump into the mid-wicket post-code didn’t help Read’s figures!
Arnold perished when Read fired down a yorker … and he missed it. With seven balls to go, 12 needed to win and one wicket left that was the turning point. James Matravers’ last over ensured there were no slip ups.
“We were confident we had enough runs on the board, the pitch was turning and we’d had good experience defending low scores in the competition,” said Horler.
“Great resilience to peg them back from 48 for none to 110 for eight and close out the win.
“Another quality, all-round spin performance and kudos to Matravers on debut for bowling a tight death spell.”
[O] Devon switch to Twenty20 action this Sunday when they face Wiltshire at Instow in a double header.
