Devon seconds D West

Whitchurch seconds v Dartington and Totnes thirds

WHITCHURCH seconds hosted Dartington and Totnes knowing a win was needed to put them back towards the top of the league after their disappointing defeat the week before.

Stand in captain for the day Martyn Credicott won the toss and decided to have a bowl on a slightly damp pitch. The Whitchurch bowling started tight, especially Andy Hall going for only 16 off his nine overs, however, there was no way through the opening pair of Taylor (25) and Roud (37) who went at a  slow pace but had the wickets in hand.

After Hall had finished his spell Credicott turned to Clive Marais (4-17) who bowled well through his overs getting Taylor in his third over, caught by Credicott at cover. The next wicket came soon after, as Marais bowled Havard (5) in his next over. Dartington had a little bit of a revival through Carter (31) and Roud was still there. Roud was bowled by Olly McCrae which started a mini collapse as both Raven and Partridge fell cheaply to Marais with good catches by Tilsley and Credicott.

J O’Hare stuck around for a little bit and supported Carter until O’Hare was caught behind by Bob Powell off the bowling of Ben Hodge. This brought Carter (20) to the crease who batted well and pushed the score along with Carter towards the 150 mark.

Tilsley got the dangerous Carter out by bowling him with four overs to go. This bought in the last man of Dartington’s innings C O’Hare who came in and scored ten runs to see Dartington to 178 all out as he was bowled by Ben Prout who bowled well right at the death.

The Whitchurch batsman could not have got off to a worse start as Steve Hodge was caught and bowled by Havard off the very first ball of the innings. This brought Credicott (15) to the crease and he and Alford (55 not out) started the run chase with ease picking off the bad balls and scoring at the required run rate. After putting 43 for the second wicket, however, Credicott played on, off the bowling of J O’Hare.

This brought Marais to the wicket and he and Alford batted superbly hitting to all parts of the ground and scoring at a fast rate with Marais bringing up his 50. With Whitchurch needing 47 runs from 22 overs the game was nearly over, Alford also brought up his 50 with a six. Dartington tried everything to break the partnership but it was to no avail as Whitchurch won by eight wickets with Marais scoring 80 not out and Alford 55 not out sharing a 138 partnership.