On a lovely day with the sun shining bright, Babbacombe CC 2nd XI hosted Stokeinteignhead CC 1st XI for an F Division West clash.
Having each won just one league game in the previous four fixtures, both teams were looking for a win to turn their season around. Stoke skipper Thomas Hawkins won the toss and decided to bat first on a belter of a pitch: hard, dry, and covered with bits of grass.
This fixture saw the return of Stoke’s Hugo Longrigg for his first league appearance this season, having been away in Glasgow for University. The innings started shakily for Stokeinteignhead with Anuj Tiwari falling early, stumped by the quick hands of Aidan Lightowlers. Andrew Thornton-Clarke also fell cheaply, trying to drive over the extra cover fielder, getting caught by Will Biddles off the bowling of Paul Lightowlers for two.
The dismissal of Andrew brought in Joseph Liyo, Stoke’s new signing. A solid middle-order performance led by Joseph, who scored a brisk 52 off 40 balls, including 6 sixes (three balls never to be found again), steadied the innings. He was well supported by the returning Hugo Longrigg, who kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and doubles.
Joseph departed after getting caught at short mid-wicket. Longrigg then got out to Marcus Tanton, who looked sharp from the off and went through his defence. Oliver Hastie and Jon Robertson negotiated a few overs of some tight bowling from the Babbacombe bowling attack. Jon Robertson was dismissed for 16 after a brief partnership with Oliver. Chacko John and Oliver Hastie then had a match-changing 69-run partnership that led to Stoke getting all batting points and taking the score past 200 runs.
Hastie played the situation perfectly and held on to one end. Chacko came in and made a quickfire 40. Chacko was caught at the long-off boundary trying to accelerate the scoring rate, but by the time he was dismissed, the damage had already been done. Stoke finished with 201-6 after their 40 overs, a fantastic recovery from their shaky start.
The Babbacombe bowlers had a mixed outing, with Paul Lightowlers taking two wickets for 27 runs in his 4-over spell. Marcus Tanton was the most economical bowler, conceding only 28 runs and taking 1 wicket in his 8 overs. Gabriel Prior and Paul Bates also chipped in with a wicket each, while Dom Passmore and Sam Alcock had a tougher time containing the batsmen.
Chasing 202, Babbacombe had a slow and steady start. Skipper Billy Alcock and Aidan Lightowlers negotiated the opening spell of some sharp bowling from Joshimon and Lishoy George and started the innings with a 59-run partnership. Babbacombe skipper looked in really good touch with most of the balls finding the middle of his bat. He was dismissed by Joshimon, who was returning to Babbacombe as an opposition player, having played for Babbacombe for the last few seasons.
Joshimon deserved a wicket for his disciplined bowling. Babbacombe’s innings did not really recover after that. Aidan held strong from one end as wickets fell at regular intervals. With the run rate going up, the batsmen did not have much choice but to try and go for runs. Anuj Tiwari was the pick of Stoke’s bowlers, dismissing 6 of the 11 Babbacombe batsmen for 22 runs in his 7 overs, which included a double-wicket maiden.
Skipper Hawkins himself chipped away with two crucial wickets, followed by Jamie Clinkett ending Paul Lightowlers' resilience and Babbacombe’s innings with a sharp catch from Chacko John at long-on. Babbacombe were dismissed for 116, resulting in an 85-run victory for Stokeinteignhead thanks to that career-best bowling spell from Anuj Tiwari and some power hitting from Joseph Liyo.
Stoke took away all 20 points on offer, now level with Babbacombe in 7th position. Stoke next host Brixham at Netherton Park, while Babbacombe head to Cornwood Cricket Club for their next league game.
