Devon Cricket League? E Division West Ashburton (A) v Yelverton 1st XI YELVERTON?S seven match winning run came to an end at Ashburton. Things started well for stand in skipper Adam Nichols when he won the toss and had no hesitation in asking Ashburton to bat on a rain saturated pitch, but from then on Ashburton dominated. In doing so, and with Exeter Civil Service defeating Keyham and Buckfastleigh, Yelverton slipped to second in the table. The experienced Nichols (39) and Pascoe (33) took the score to 95-1 before skipper West (38no) took the Ashburton total up to 175-7 helped by 31 extras. Yelverton?s medium pacers Shrivastav (2-42), Avery (2-36) and Vince (3-33) shared the wickets. Yelverton did not get close to Ashburton?s total finishing on 123-6. Ashburton set a tight defensive field from the start and bowled an accurate off-stump line, making it very hard to score. Farnham (47no) and Vince (24) were the top scorers but none of the Yelverton batsmen got to grips with the difficult wicket. This weekend Yelverton entertain Ashburton for a rematch in the return fixture at Langton Park (2pm). Devon Cricket League C Division Yelverton 2nd XI v Kingsbridge THE seconds completed their first double of the season with an emphatic 91-run win over visiting Kingsbridge. After skipper Tony Carter lost the toss, Yelverton were asked to bat on a damp wicket. After a slow start, opening pair Mike Chetwynd and Steve West put on an 80-run opening partnership before West fell for 26. Chetwynd went on to score a fine 59 before falling with the score on 107. Useful contributions from Gerry Keen (38) and Dave Scott (21) saw Yelverton close their innings on 187. When Kingsbridge batted they struggled against the new ball attack of Adrian Hood and Chris Pearson, only scoring 16 runs off the first 12 overs. Hood took three of the first four wickets to fall as Kingsbridge slumped to 20-4 and ended up with fine figures of 3-24 off 10 overs. Despite a short-lived middle order revival by Kingsbridge, veteran Jerry Warland turned the screw taking 3-24 and with Scott Mclean taking 2-1 at the other end, Kingsbridge were dismissed for 96 in the 30th over. Yelverton?s win helped consolidate their second place in the league table after the inactivity of the last two weeks. This week they travel to take on leaders Plymstock in a top-of-the table clash at Dean Cross (2pm). Moorland Bats Tamar Cricket League inter division Calstock v Yelverton 3rd XI THE thirds made the short trip to Calstock and came away with the spoils, following a 57-run win. Yelverton?s total was largely built around contributions from skipper Brian Spear with 52 and Peter Garland?s 25. A number of useful cameos lower down the order helped raise the total to 160-8. Yelverton?s bowlers proved to be too good for the Calstock batsmen as Geraint Heath (5-33) and former skipper Paul O?Hanlon (3-14) bowled them out for 103. This week Yelverton entertain Bridestowe at Buckland?s Crapstone ground (2pm). lYELVERTON warmed up for this weekend?s 20/20 tournament at Tavistock CC, with their own 20/20 warm-up day at Langton Park on Sunday. It was arranged by commercial manager Chris Pearson in part as a celebration of recently reaching his 40th year. Two sides, The Gentlemen? and the Players? made up of both club players and guests assembled for an early start to proceedings. In fine conditions the Players were asked to bat and this clearly agreed with 1st XI skipper Rob Guy who blasted 80 off 52 balls. He was supported by Fraser Coleman (27 off 25) and Kevin Treweeks (20 off 22) as the Players closed on 161-5. Pick of the Gentlemen?s bowlers was Iain Cunningham with 2-20 off his four overs. Play was interrupted by a shower before the Gentlemen could start their innings. Their response was led by former Yelverton and Tavistock player Dave Watson with a quickfire 40 off 29 balls and Geoff Brain (26 off 18) with an opening partnership of 69 in 8 overs. The momentum slowed when both Watson and Brain fell in quick succession before Chris Pearson (35 off 17) and 2nd XI skipper Tony Carter (28 off 35) put on a partnership of 48 in 6 overs. Six runs were required off the final over but Carter and Jerry Warland (12) were only able to score 5 and the match was tied as the Gentlemen reached 161-6. In the second game of the day (reduced to 16 overs a side following another shower) the Players only managed to post a score of 80-5. John Wollington (22 off 28) and Matt Tamsett (16 off 20) were the main contributors. Mike Chetwynd (1-4) and Tony Carter (1-8) were the most successful bowlers for the Gentlemen. In reply, Watson was again to the fore scoring 26 off 28 balls and was supported by Terry Roe with 19 off 26. It was left to Geoff Brain to score the five runs required for victory off the last two deliveries from DanVince. Brain hit a four off the penultimate ball before Vince bowled a wide to give victory to the Gentlemen by three wickets as they finished on 81-7.
