Francis Clark Devon League A division

Tavistock v South Devon

AT last, Tavistock recorded their first win since the opening day of the season and what a win it was.

The positions of the two sides meant anything other than a win for Tavistock would almost certainly have condemned them to the drop into the B division.

Phil Blackmore won the toss for South Devon and raised suspicions about the state of the wicket by opting to bat first.

His brother, Matt, opened the batting with Steve Short and found himself on the way back after six balls, lbw to Tshepo Legodi for a duck.

This brought Aussie Jim McMahon to the crease early, a dangerous prospect.

With the score on 30 Legodi hurried Short into a pull shot which looped to the secure hands of Phil Stephens at fine leg. Skipper Blackmore joined McMahon and they advanced to 87.

Steve Nicholson had bowled well on his return from a dislocated shoulder, but received no reward for his efforts. Andy Gauler and Andy Kaitiff replaced the opening pair and it was Kaitiff who removed Blackmore with a yorker for 28 made from 58 balls.

Ten runs later Tom Bullivant followed lbw to Gauler for 2. McMahon was dominating the scoring and it was a relief to Tavistock when Gauler caught and bowled the overseas star for 69 — 128 for 5.

Left hander Xavier Page-Dove looked uncomfortable throughout his stay at the wicket but it was Dave Knowles who departed next, caught and bowled by Kaitiff for 14 with the score on 161.

Gauler got back in the act four runs later, aided by a smart catch at midwicket by a leaping Bob Luscombe to dismiss Pat Duke for 3.

Another four runs and Kaitiff put Page-Dove out of his misery with a sharp caught and bowled for 24 — 169 for 8 and a real chance to bowl South Devon out and grab some extra overs into the bargain for Tavistock.

Ninth wicket pair Dave Baldock and Ken Murphy had other ideas and carefully worked their way through the remaining overs. With four remaining they decided the time had come for action and took South Devon past 200 and five batting points, and finish on 207 for 8, Murphy unbeaten on 22.

Dave Watson and Luscombe managed some pleasing shots, Watson driving through extra cover and Luscombe producing a back-foot drive for four. McMahon struck twice in quick succession, clean bowling first Luscombe then Watson to reduce Tavistock to 25 for 2.

Phil Stephens and captain Steve Luffman set about steadying the ship, then McMahon got one to lift dramatically and force Stephens to give a catch to Phil Blackmore at midwicket — 28 for 3.

Dave Manning entered the fray to find a wicket that was misbehaving alarmingly. Short was taking advantage of the helpful conditions for his off spin, having replaced McMahon, and for a while survival became the only goal for the beleaguered batsmen.

Manning produced a prodigious blow from a Short full toss. He heaved the ball over square leg fully 90 yards for a monumental towering six. The stroke was almost a signal that Tavistock were assuming the driving seat and when Luffman produced another maximum, from Short the charge was on.

McMahon returned and produced a snorter to remove Luffman just after he had passed 50. The stand had been worth 112 and Tavistock were now 150 for 4. Kaitiff joined Manning and kept the board ticking over before playing over a full ball from Knowles, gone for 10. Tavistock 62-5.

Legodi marched out to bat and proceeded to try and run everything that was on. The score shot up to 192. He decided to try and score the 16 needed with one almighty swing, missed and was bowled by Blackmore.

Dave Jeffery adopted a supporting role for Manning. It fell to Manning to hit the winning runs to the midwicket fence — his had been a magnificent effort on a tricky wicket. He finished 80 not out from 84 balls and Tavistock claimed 19 points to 8 for South Devon.

This week Tavistock face promotion hunting North Devon.