
BOVEY Tracey fanned the flames of a Premier Division revival with a five-wicket win over fellow strugglers Plympton in the basement battle at Harewood House.
Although Bovey Tracey (86pts) are still in the bottom two, they have closed the gap on Paignton immediately ahead of them to 19 points.
Pete Bradley, the Bovey captain, felt there were encouraging signs in what was only the second win of the season for a side largely shy when it comes to run scoring.
“Obviously it was great to get the win with some good individual performances,” said Bradley.
“Musa Twala and Sam Taylor stood up to get us over the line – and there were good signs from the early order where batters got starts.
“Hopefully, this win may give us a kick-start and try to climb the table.”
While Bovey can cling-on to hopes of dodging the drop, the picture looks depressing from Plympton’s viewpoint.
Plympton were 38 points adrift of safety at the bottom of the table going into the game and needed a win to put some pressure on Bovey Tracey and Paignton above them.
The distance between Plympton and safety is now 41 points and making inroads into that will be a challenge for a side that has only won once so far this season.
Plympton totalled a respectable 200 for eight in a full 50-overs-each game that avoided the bad weather disruption in other parts of the county.
Runs came in bits and pieces from opener Shahbaz Javed (29), Harry Kandampully, who made 31 batting second wicket down, and Chris Dunstan, who was 27 not at the end.
Bovey gave away 42 in extras – 36 of them wides – which boosted the total.
Seb Ansley (3-39) was Bovey’s leading wicket taker. Musa Twala had two for 32. Spinner Ollie Clifford-Bourne (10-3-22-1) offered few scoring opportunities.
Twala opened-up for Bovey and had the target down to seven to win when he was last out for 83.
Significant stands involving Twala were 40 for the first wicket with Jake Pascoe (17), and 85 with Sam Taylor (47) that made the result academic. Seb Ansley (17no) won it in a hurry by bashing Jamie Bailey for a four then a six.
Plympton bowlers Callum Williams, Craig Donohue and Surya Suresh all wheeled away below four an over to make Bovey work for their runs.
Skipper Elliot Hamilton (3-54) came back for a second spell late in the game and took some punishment prising out Twala and Taylor.
Bradley only had one moan after the game: Bovey’s fielding.
“It was one of our poorest performances in the field: five dropped catches and nearly 50 extras,” said Bradley.