Whitchurch Wayfarers 1st XI v Kingskerswell

SATURDAY saw a top of the table clash against fellow contenders Kingskerswell.

Kerswell won the toss and elected to bat. Opening bowlers Steve Lavis and Mathew Mills performed superbly with Mills picking up an unbelievable one-handed caught-and-bowled.

A change of pace brought on Steve Bray (1-29) and Chris Clapham (3-25). Kerswell struggled along to 154-7, thanks mainly to tight bowling and committed fielding.

After the turn-around, the Wayfarers struggled early on against a miserly attack.

Youngster Ian Gray batted superbly. He scored 38 before being caught by the bowler. Nigel Barriball joined skipper Darren Chappell. Barriball struggled to keep up with the pace of his batting partner between the wickets.

Wayfarers reached the total with a couple of overs to spare, Chappell 38 not out and Barriball 23 not out.

This victory puts Whitchurch 26 points clear of third place Kerswell with six games to play.

Whitchurch 2nd XI v Ashburton

WHITCHURCH were invited to bat on a poor pitch where the bounce was variable, often low, therefore making run scoring difficult.

Things did not look good as two wickets for Broughton along with a running mishap meant Whitchurch were reduced to 13-3. Stokes and Brereton then batted well in the conditions to stop the rot and gradually build some runs.

Stokes was then joined by Heatley and together they added 49 for the fifth wicket as batting became slightly easier. When Stokes was out for a patient 36 a score of 100 would have been par and defendable.

But Heatley went on to make 44no ably assisted by Mitchell and Horler and with the addition of 32 extras Whitchurch posted 138 for 6 from their allocated overs.

In reply, Alford struck early as Hoggins dragged a shooter onto his stumps. Cassidy decided that attack was the best course of action and bludgeoned his way to 31 before falling to a running catch from Tamblin.

A smart piece of wicket-keeping from Brereton then dismissed Distin for nought. After that Ashburton subsided. Horler bowling his usual tight line and Heatley rounding off a good performance, each with four wickets. Ashburton were dismissed for 87 with 19 overs remaining.

Whitchurch took a hard earned 17 points from this match and now face two crucial games, away at Keyham this weekend then at home to Plympton.