D division
Halberton and Sampford Peverell v Yelverton
Yelverton travelled east to near Tiverton for their opening Devon Cricket League fixture of the season.
On a damp and overcast afternoon, Yelverton skipper Richard Goldsby-West called asked the home team to bat first on the surprisingly hard, bouncy wicket.
Halberton started strongly, putting on 40 runs for the first wicket to see off the new ball, but some tight bowling and good pressure in the field paid dividends as Rob Bennett got the initial breakthough.
From this point on Yelverton did not look back and tight bowling by Geoff Brain (2-26 off 13), Joel Avery (4-53) and Bennett (2-30) plus two run-outs helped dismiss Halberton for 123 off 31.4 overs. D Coles (37 not out) top scored for Halberton.
Yelverton started their response before tea, but lost a wicket off the very first ball of their innings after a mix-up between Jez Stokes and Ricky McDowell saw McDowell run out for 0. Colin Broughton joined Stokes and the pair safely saw the Bohemians through to tea without further loss of wickets.
After the break, Stokes and Broughton were dismissed in quick succession courtesy of some sharp bowling from Robins (2-35) and Coles (2-22). Rob Bennett steadied the innings with some aggressive stroke-play in his 62 and when Bennett was dismissed, skipper West (21no) finished off the job in short order to see the Bohemians home for a comfortable five wicket victory.
Yelverton (19 points) 127-5 beat Halberton and SP 123 all out (3 points) by five wickets
n This Saturday, Yelverton entertain Ottery St. Mary at Langton Park, 2pm start
Yelverton seconds v Alphington seconds
YELVERTON seconds got their 2011 league campaign off to a disappointing start as they suffered a heavy defeat in their opening fixture.
Skipper Chris Pearson asked Alphington to bat first on a damp wicket. Opening bowlers Tony Carter and Dom Rushton kept it tight and Rushton induced a regulation edge from Alphington's R Cousins but the chance was spilled behind the wicket. This was to prove a costly error as Cousins went onto to carry his bat for 94 not out.
Carter was the first to strike with the score on 15 dismissing Barnes, caught and bowled for 15 and Carter (2-57) then dismissed Hussain for 10 with the score on 37. A third wicket partnership of 76 between Cousins and Norwood got Alpington up to 113, before Norwood (45) was dismissed by 14 year old Dan Cooper's first delivery. Cooper went on to bowl a tidy spell of five overs for 24 runs. Alphington skipper Tom Weeks joined Cousins and the pair put on 108 for the 4th wicket despite some tight bowling from skipper Pearson (2-41 off 11) to put Alphington in the driving seat. After Weeks was dismissed for 59, some late middle order hitting got Alphington up to an imposing 253-5 off their alloted overs.
In reply, Chris Cottrell (10) and Andy Taylor (14) got the Bohemians off to a steady start, but after the loss of Cottrell with the score on 20, wickets fell at regular intervals to the bowling of Hathaway (3-31) and Barnes (5-28) as the batsman found it difficult to build meaningful partnerships. Only Fraser Coleman with 24 and James Worrell with 19 n/o made scores of note, but despite their best efforts the Bohemians were dismissed for 94.
Alphington seconds (20 points) 253-5 beat Yelverton seconds 94 all out (2pts) by 159 runs
n This Saturday, Yelverton seconds travel to Abbotskerswell.
Milton Abbot v Yelverton thirds
Yelverton's third XI also went down in their opening fixture of the Wombat Sports Tamar League Season, losing by six wickets to Milton Abbot.
After posting 160 off their 40 overs, Chris Vinson top scoring with 63 and ably supported by Tim Noble with 24 and skipper Brian Spear with 22, Milton Abbot knocked off the required runs for the loss of four wickets despite the bowling of Vinson 3-44.
n This Saturday, Yelverton thirds are at home to Launceston fourths at Crapstone, 2pm.