WHITCHURCH House hosted a key relegation battle between Whitchurch Wayfarers 1st XI and visitors Stokeinteignhead.

Home captain Potts won the toss and elected to bat on a hot, muggy afternoon. George (2-16) extracted exaggerated movement and caused the batsmen trouble in his 8-over spell.

Losing Potts (44) at first drinks (15 overs) left Whitchurch struggling on 66-4. Barriball (51) with, first, Mackenzie and then Hodge (44), crafted a recovery which left Whitchurch on 143-6 with 10 overs to use.

Chako (4-32) made life hard for the lower order. The last batsman fell in the penultimate over, Whitchurch setting a target of 202 to win. Probably slightly under par for the conditions.

Stoke’s reply mirrored Whitchurch for 30 of the available overs.

Batsmen struggled with a dry pitch and some uneven bounce. Prout (1-34) and Williams (2-31) bowled well holding Stoke to 68-3 at first drinks.

After Mackenzie picked up two quick wickets, Stoke were 87-5 and the target appeared to be a long way away.

By this time George had come to the crease. His assured batting held the Stoke innings together.

Despite losing Aswez (17) and needing 73 from the remaining 15 overs, George seemed unperturbed. Taking advantage of a change of bowlers, he smashed an unbeaten 88, including five 6’s, and helped Stoke race to an eventually comfortable victory and an important 20 points.

The loss leaves Whitchurch two points above the relegation zone with three difficult fixtures ahead, starting with 2nd place Kenn away.

Elsewhere, Whitchurch Wayfarers 2nd XI won the toss and invited the hosts to bat on a spicy looking pitch, which would show inconsistent bounce throughout. Andy Hall (2 -25) and Harry Griffiths (1-35) bowled a tight first 10 overs.

Hamilton weathered the early storm and made 53. Whitchurch held good catches in the deep and took regular wickets but a quickfire century from Ferriman took the game away from them.

Plympton posted 247 for seven.

In reply, Alford and Mckenzie added 50 for the opening wicket. Ferriman then bowled an impeccable line and halted the scoring in the middle overs leaving Whitchurch chasing batting points.

Mckenzie made 55 and lower order runs from Webber (37) saw Whitchurch close on 178 for six.

Plympton’s 18 points puts them in the promotion race. Whitchurch, near the foot of the table, are safe from relegation.

Meanwhile, the decision to move Whitchurch Wayfarer’s Chairman’s XI match into August was rewarded with a bright sunny day. A large crowd of sponsors, members, family and friends were treated to a festival of runs.

The captains decided that the Club XI would bat first. After, the early loss of Potts, Hall (37) and Goodfellow (30) put on 44 before chancing their arms once too often. Hall well stumped by Manning and Goodfellow walking past a Milligan delivery.

Mackenzie (35) and Swabey (46) joined the party hitting out lustily. Kerswell then anchored the lower order, making 56 to set a target of 272.

Wickets were shared across multiple bowlers, the Chappell brothers catching the eye.

A wicket in the second over offered a hope that the target may prove a step too far. Man of the match William Chappell helped to ensure that was not the case.

His composed and carefully crafted 55 unbeaten anchored the reply. A more brutal 150 from Billy Barriball swept the Chairman’s XI to victory in short order, nailing 15 sixes and 11 fours in the process.