North Devon two

Belstone v Heathcoat

AFTER convincingly winning their first three league matches in division two Belstone suffered a wake-up call against a strong Heathcoat side in a top-of-the-table clash, slumping to their heaviest-ever defeat by 213 runs.

The foundation of Heathcoat's innings came from an opening partnership of 87 in 17 overs between Justin Williams (11 fours in 79) and Barnaby Goss (39) and was cemented by a fourth wicket stand of 88 between Mitchell Baker (six fours and four sixes in 84) and James Davies (27), all of which left the home side with a commanding 45-over total of 279-6.

The Belstone bowlers struggled to contain the onslaught, each conceding five or more runs an over, with the most successful being Dan Fogerty (44-2).

Eleven runs came from the first over of Belstone's reply but that was as good as it got as the Heathcoat bowlers soon got the upper hand on a fast-paced pitch. Having reached 28 for one in the eleventh over wickets began to clatter regularly from then on.

Skipper Richard Drake was the only batsman to reach double figures in a reply that saw the next nine wickets fall for just 36 runs to leave the visitors all out for 64 in 25 overs.

Martyn Williams and Jamie Drew, with five wickets between them at a cost of only 18 runs, were the pick of the bowlers.