TAVISTOCK’S Premier Division survival prospects look a lot brighter after they defeated Hatherleigh by two wickets in the basement battle on the Holsworthy Road ground.

And the midweek signing of West Indian under-19 batter Joshua Dorne has further boosted their prospects of avoiding relegation.

Hatherleigh’s Shrey Ghosh stroked an unbeaten century batting first wicket down in the home team’s 186 all out. No one else got past 21.

Tavistock grafted their way to victory with 11 balls to spare and had a lot to thank Rhys Davies for. He went in at 43 for two and was still there on 67 not out after he hit the winning runs.

Tavistock now have a 13-point gap between themselves and the bottom two and have inserted Hatherleigh into it. They were ahead of Tavy going into round 12.

Ghosh went in at 16 for one and within three overs, the situation had deteriorated to 21 for three. Jasper Presswell (19) and captain Rob Cockwill (21) shared partnerships worth 62 and 59 respectively with the pro.

Tavistock seamer James McGahey booked remarkable figures of 10-5-8-2. Every run given away was a single! Elliot Hamilton (3-28) was the leading wicket taker.

Once James White and been and gone for 27 – four fours and a six – Davies was the constant presence in Tavistock’s run chase.

Billy Barriball (36) was 22 yards away during a key stand of 85 for the fourth wicket that put Tavistock on course to win.

Sean Letheren (4-42) and Mark Lake (1-31) slowed things down for a while – three wickets fell for 17 runs scored – but Davies kept going until the end.

Winning skipper Cleave said he hoped this win would prove a springboard to a successful last lap of the campaign.

“The lads showed big heart again and we must keep building now as we enter the run in to the end of the season,” said Cleave.

“Or bowlers were excellent, especially James McGahey, and a brilliant batting partnership from Rhys and Billy set us up, even with a little wobble.

“Rhys carried his bat all the way to the end with a great knock in a well-deserved win.”

Losing skipper Cockwill said: “Unfortunately, we couldn’t support Shrey well enough as another 20 runs would have made the game very interesting and may have been enough for us.

“With a relatively small total on the board we knew we needed to take every chance, we didn’t manage to do that.

“Credit to our bowlers, who made Tavistock earn every run and didn’t make it an easy chase.

“Despite losing I was really proud of the way we fought in the second innings.”

West Indian under-19 start Joshua Dorne will make his Tavistock debut against Exmouth at the Ring this Saturday.

Dorne replaces Ahmad Hasan as Tavistock’s overseas player. He has returned home to Pakistan due to injury.

Dorne is in the country on a 30-day visa and should be available for five of the final six games.

Meanwhile, Bridestowe & Belstone remain in relegation orbit in the A Division following a four-wicket reversal at Budleigh Salterton.

Two league places and 23 points separate B&B from second bottom Thorverton ahead of this Saturday’s Millaton meeting with new leaders Torquay & Kingskerswell.