Belstone v Chulmleigh

BELSTONE's first game of the new season coincided with a bitterly cold day with light rain almost throughout.

Their opponents Chulmleigh, paying the side's first-ever visit to Rew Meadow, chose to bat first and quickly lost both openers to an accurate spell from Ryan Dennis (8-2-17-3).

Bradley Sheahan then dominated a third wicket stand of 60 with Leighton Dayman, hitting four fours and three sixes before he was unluckily out for 62 when the ball bounced off his shoulder onto the wicket.

Dayman continued to bat solidly until he was sixth out for 44 with the score on 147, the first-ever Belstone wicket for Carl Wratten. Although Tom Mallett took a wicket with his first ball of the season, useful lower-order runs came apace from Martin Campling (22) and James Weeks (35), enabling Chulmleigh to post a more than decent 213-8 at the end of their 40 overs.

Belstone began at a rate of knots with the first 50 coming up in seven overs with Phil Woods taking 17 off Tom Spence's third over. The brakes went on when slow left-armer Alan Jacobs came into the attack; he made the initial breakthrough by bowling Chris Walpole (12) with the score on 66, then followed up with two more quick wickets including that of Woods, caught in the deep for 50.

After that Chulmleigh took a grip on the game as the middle order went cheaply to Jacobs (8-1-14-4) and Kevin Davies (6-1-8-3), and it was only a late flurry from Harry Bushin (29 not out) that took the Belstone score to a respectable 151 all out, which gave the visitors a comfortable 62-run victory.