Tamar

Yelverton thirds v Lifton

YELVERTON were asked to bat first on Lifton's artificial track, and were quickly in trouble at 16-5 after only 10 overs.

Everything changed when Jon Smith came in at number five. He batted superbly and put on an excellent partnership of 76 with Matt Smith, of which Jon made 64, hitting five sixes.

Ian Dawe made an aggressive start, and hit four sixes and three fours for his maiden 50, on his way to 54 not out, with James Watt supporting him well. The Yelverton score ended on 181 all out, quite a good effort after the early disasters.

Lifton lost their first wicket to Ian Dawe with just nine runs on the board, when John Giblin took an excellent catch at square leg.

Their opener and captain Martin Kneebone was looking dangerous, guiding Lifton to 106-3 after 20 overs.

Although Dawe bowled a tight ten overs for 28, taking two wickets, a win looked unlikely. However, skilful fielding by James Watt and great keeping by Matt Smith, along with some superb bowling by Ben Spear, gave Yelverton hope.

Spear bowled with variation and took 5-23, including a spell of four wickets for seven runs. His most important success was to bowl Kneebone around his legs for a powerful 76.

As Lifton closed in on their target, Alan Munton – who bowled tightly in his second spell– took the last wicket to give Yelverton victory by 16 runs and well-deserved 20 points.