Tamar League division A Ordulph Taverners v Cornwood THIS top of the table clash promised to be a belter with both teams bringing with them a reputation for high scoring and big hitting — it did not disappoint. Top of the table Cornwood won the toss and put second place Ordulph in to bat. The Cornwood attack of Howe and Smith (4 for 51) quickly had Ordulph in trouble with the cheap removal of Rotton, Evans and Whitfield within the first 10 overs. The Ordulph run rate was progressing but not at any huge pace, with Melhuish, not for the first time this season, providing the stability Ordulph needed to advance their score. Wickets continued to fall now to the veteran attack of Gould and Mick Organ with only Sutton (14) providing any meaningful support for Ordulph's Melhuish. If Ordulph were to post a decent target Melhuish needed a partner to stay with him - enter Langton. In a blistering assault on the bowling Langton pummelled the Cornwood attack mercilessly for 10 overs amassing a rapid 57. This was just the tonic Ordulph needed and with Melhuish still producing the goods from the other end, the score forged ahead to 207 for 8 off the allocated 40 overs. Melhuish, despite all Cornwood's best efforts was still there carrying his bat at the end with a superb 92 not out. Praise goes also to the young Cornwood fielders who never gave up chasing and their bowlers who despite the punishment kept on going. Cornwood came out of their corner with a positive attitude determined to chase down the target. Goodliffe (48) with good shot selection punished anything short or not on line ably supported by Dart (25). Ordulph's Langton was keeping a lid on things from one end but Folley from the other was taking a bit of punishment. Ordulph's bowlers however stuck to their task and eventually breakthroughs came with the fall of Goodliffe to Folley and Dart to Langton. A couple more wickets to Folley and Langton seemed to put Ordulph back in the driving seat. This was short lived though with Cornwood's Skeemer deciding to up the ante showing why he is one of the league's leading batsmen. Just like Langton did for Ordulph, Skeemer took the game by the scruff of the neck and lambasted the Ordulph attack all over the park. Several bowling changes were effected to try and stem the Skeemer run flow but all were met with the same response - the ball disappearing over the boundary. The game was fast flowing away from Ordulph but in the nick of time for them veteran Smith removed Skeemer (75) with his first ball inducing a top edge which Smith took himself. With wickets left in hand, plenty of overs left and only 20 or so required it looked as though Skeemer had done the job for Cornwood but yet again this game had another twist in its tail. Against the odds Ordulph came back again with Smith, Rotton, Whitfield and Langton taking the four more wickets required to halt Cornwood just eight runs short of victory. Ordulph will look at this as victory snatched from the jaws of defeat, Cornwood as defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Ordulph and Cornwood are now joint top of the league on the same points.
