TAVISTOCK made it four wins on the spin in the A Division – and 75 points out of 80 available to them – when they defeated promoted Plymouth by 61 runs.
The city side were bowled out for 161 at the Ring, where they were chasing 223 to win.
Not for the first time this season middle-order batter Will Scott-Munden gave Tavistock a helping hand towards a defendable score with runs in a hurry down the order.
Openers Charlie Barriball (27) and Jack Smyly (26) got Tavistock off to a solid start then Billy Barriball (36) and Dave Manning (25) kept the board ticking over.
Scott-Munden’s 51 off 34 balls – six fours, two sixes – helped the Moorlanders add 77 runs getting from 139 for five to 216 for nine.
Richard Goldsby-West took out Billy Barriball and Manning in his four-for-47 haul. Saiesh Reddy’s three for 39 included Charlie Barriball and dangerman Rhys Davies three balls later.
Plymouth made a solid start through openers Rahul Randev (57) and Harry Witcher, but wobbled after the latter was second out with the score on 109.
Spinner Shaun Daymond got into the Plymouth middle order as the visitors slowed to 119 for four then 138 for six.
Jon Varcoe (23no) kept going at one end, but wickets fell regularly at the other. Dimuth Sandaruwan (2-34) returned at the end to dispatch tail-enders Ben Smith then Aziz Rhamanzai as Plymouth were bowled out in the 39th over.
NORTH Devon skipper Jack Moore shuffled his cards for the final game of a promotion-winning season – and still had a winning hand!
Thorverton were on the receiving end of a six-wicket defeat in the Sandhills as North Devon said their farewells to the A Division after the briefest of stays.
Brendon Coetzee (25) and George Daldorph (22) got Thorverton going after early issues with Will Popham (3-51) towards a running total of 72 for four.
Mickey Wilkinson (69) and Bobby Heard (32) took care of the puff and grunt work in the middle order that helped Thorverton reach 241 all out.
Jay Rothery (3-31) got among the wickets late in the day for North Devon.
Reuben Windley (6) was the only one of North Devon’s top-six batters to miss out as the runs were knocked-off with more than 12 overs to spare.
Rothery (58) put on 66 with Dan Bowser (22) before passing the baton to Roshan Lakmal at second wicket down.
Lakmal batted through for an undefeated 86 and his partnership of 96 with Theo Valeri (46) just left loose ends to tie-up.
Moore, who dropped himself down the order to give players such as Valeri a go, said re-working the batting order made no difference to the outcome.
“It shows the depth we have as a squad that we can move the order around and still put in a convincing performance,” said Moore.
“It's been a pleasure and a privilege to captain this set of blokes all year. I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds at North Devon CC?”
Thorverton were a top-four side in the first half of the season, but fell away badly after the turn.
Five of Thorverton’s seven league wins came in the first nine games, which goes a long way to explaining why they finished three off the bottom of the final table, albeit with a 30-point cushion between them and Plymstock in the second drop spot.
Jake Choules, who hopes to continue as captain in 2025, said it was not hard identifying where things went wrong.
“If we want to improve on our mid-table finishes, it's all about consistency and availability,” said Choules.
“Greater competition for places, and a few new recruits, will help with that.
“Our door is open if anyone wants a new challenge.”
HATHERLEIGH rounded-off an undistinguished season in the A Division with a workmanlike four-wicket win over relegated Abbotskerswell.
Hatherleigh never looked like winning promotion and relegation was always only a remote possibility in the last month of the season. A playing record of seven wins and eight defeats summed-up the summer.
Niall Leahy, who was been skippering the side in the long-term absence of Mark Lake, said ‘consistency’ is what the team needs going forward.
“We've shown that when we play our best cricket we are able to compete with the top sides,” said Leahy.
“The main thing for next year is just trying to find a bit more consistency in our performance each week.”
Abbotskerswell, long ago resigned to relegation, were all out for exactly 150 with three overs unused.
Skipper Ed Smout-Cooper, who usually opens the batting, went in at 91 for seven and top scored with 47. Liam Hurse, who opened instead of the skipper was next best on 32. Subtract 28 extras and there was not a lot from the rest.
Hatherleigh stuck to their week-in, week-out bowling arrangements and were rewarded with wickets for the usual suspects: Charlie Neilson (4-31), Shrey Ghosh (2-19) and Rob Cockwill (3-24).
Neilson opened-up with 34 before a mini-collapse from 67 for one to 82 for four briefly slowed the chase.
Ghosh got his head down for a match-winning 59 not out that steered Hatherleigh to victory, despite occasional disruptions from Par Singh (3-23).
CHRIS Kelmere’s unbeaten 98 was the highlight for Torquay & Kingskerswell in their four-wicket defeat by Kilmington.
The 31-year-old all-rounder has been in the form of his life this season with 925 A Division runs – four tons, four scores of 50 or more – at a hefty average of 77.08.
Twenty-five league wickets, at slightly less than 23 runs each, only emphasised the importance of Kelmere’s role in the team.
Opener Kelmere batted from start to finish for his 98 not-out in a team total of 213 for sev en. He needed seven runs from Ben Fuzzard’s final over to reach three figures and didn’t quite make it.
Kelmere shared stands of 52 with Bobby Western (23) and 73 with Harry Baxenadale (38), who was run-out in the last over trying to turn a single into a two!
Rob Crabb (3-35) and Matt Reed (2-24) shared the bowling plaudits for Kimington.
Tom Gooding (85) and Joel Whelan (37) took Kilmington’s chase to 107 for one. Once they departed, former captain Brett Garner took the helm.
Garner batted through for 63 not out and negotiated a mini-slump caused by Tom Lillywhite (2-14) to see Kilmington over the line.
