Devon seconds

D West

ON another soggy Saturday afternoon and a great effort to put on this match Whitchurch lost the toss and were invited to bat first.

The Dartington and Totnes bowlers found it hard work as the pitch was slippery, but runs too were hard to come by. Twenty had been added for the first wicket when Alford was bowled by Colegate. Ben Powell soon followed for 13, lbw to Gornell (2-29). Steve Hodge then stuck around to anchor the innings but runs were still difficult to come by.

As Whitchurch tried to press the accelerator, wickets fell, Griffiths (3-23) and Rusling (2-30) doing the damage. All the while Hodge remained until he was superbly caught by Gareth Colegate for 33.

The tail managed to see out the overs but 113-9 by Whitchurch was 25 to 30 short of a competitive total.

Gareth Colegate led the run chase for Darts with a couple of early boundaries. However, the visitors didn't have things all their own way as accurate and probing bowling from Josh Towl and Charlie Barriball kept the batsmen subdued.

Towl (1-44) removed Jiha and then Barriball joined the party with 3-26. Tamblin also took a wicket and with two run outs, effected by Freedman and Bone, and Darts were in trouble at 57-7.

The drinks break worked in Darts favour though as they found some composure and took the game away from Whitchurch.

Gornell (37no) and Jarvis (19no) mixing some sensible batting with a few slogs saw their side home by three wickets.