Halberton & Sampford Peverell CC vs. Bridestowe CC

After a good win last week we were once again on the road, expecting a tough game at Halberton and Sampford Peverell, who came down last year. Skipper mark Butler came back in to the team, replacing Chris Lavis.

Unfortunately Butler could not keep up his good record of winning the toss and we were stuck in to bat on a wicket that looked reasonably hard in comparison to what we have played on this season. Tom Fog and Jacko took to the crease but we got off to an awful start as Tom was out in the first over, a sharp caught and bowled taken by Geary. Jacko, now joined by father Phil, struck the young Kallaway back over his head for 4. Phil then tried to do the same to Geary (9-3-25-4) but was brilliantly caught by Coles, plucked out of the air with one hand at full stretch. Jacko was next to go, though was not happy about it. The left armed Geary hitting his pads and pleading for LBW, the umpire obliged but Jacko, Jopling and even their keeper were sure it had pitched outside the line. Nevertheless we were now 15-3 as Samo joined Jopling in an attempt to steady the ship. The pitch was not as true as it first seemed with some balls popping and others shooting along the ground, together with the movement that Geary was getting this meant runs were hard to come by. Both batsmen remained patient though and Samo (14) picked off a couple of half volleys driving them both sweetly for 4. His patience did run out though as he attempted to strike Geary over the top only to be clean bowled. Once again James came in after those above him had collapsed and he set about rebuilding the innings. Jopling could not help him though as he was bowled by Turner, the ball nipping away and keeping a little low. At 43-5 Dan Fog took to the crease, having got a deserved promotion to number 7. He justified it as well as he began attacking new bowler Salter (7-28-1) driving through his favoured cover region. It was Dan who kept the score ticking as James maintained patience at the other end. The pair put on a good 40 runs before James eventually fell to new bowler Durrant, the ball turning past his outside edge and clipping the bails. The father son partnership of Mark and Dan could not repeat their heroics of last week as Mark fell, bowled by Salter. Pat joined Dan and the pair looked comfortable as Dan continued to knock the ball around and Pat took it to the bowlers, smashing Salter for two 4s over extra cover. The pair took us to the hundred mark before Dan was bowled by Durrant (5.3-14-3) for a vital and confident 34. Jutson came and went, bowled by the returning Turner (7-2-12-2). This brought Butler in at number 11, he didn't hang around, swatting his first ball for a one bounce 4 prompting the field to be pushed right back. To everyone's surprise he then pulled out a textbook forward defensive shot to take an easy 1. Pat ended up finding Durrant too tempting and was caught at mid-wicket after top-edging an attempted heave. This meant we had been bowled out for 109 with 10 overs to spare, a very much below par batting performance.

Heading straight back out we were very much up for it and knew that a few early wickets and economical bowling would put pressure on the chase. Danners and Tom started in just that way with both of them beating the bat and giving no easy runs away. Danners was bowling with real pace and at times getting considerable bounce that troubled the openers Coles and Blake. It was Tom who got the breakthrough though, bowling Blake with slower ball that did him all ends up. Both Fogs continued to bowl great areas with Danners (9-4-12) bowling 3 maidens on the trot, their bowling was so tight that it took Coles 14.2 overs to get off the mark! At tea Halberton were 24-1 from 15 overs, there was still a long way to go. Samo replaced Dan straight after tea and started with a maiden. Tom (9-2-16-2), in his last over, made another breakthrough, bowling Parkinson. It was now 28-2 as Jutson took over from Tom and began as consistent as ever. Samo (6-2-19) could not break the partnership of Hooper and Coles so Joplng took a turn with the ball. It was the batsmen that gifted us the wicket though as Hooper turned the ball around the corner and Coles ended up stranded halfway down calling for the run, Tom accurately bounced the ball into Jopling who gratefully dislodged the stumps to finally end the innings of Coles. Two balls later Hooper (18) was also back in the pavilion, a full ball from Jopling striking him on the pad and the umpire eventually giving it LBW. Two new men where now at the crease and we sensed a chance, this was enhanced as Jutson dismissed Everett for a duck after a sharp stumping by Mark. Our great run of overs continued as Jopling (6.3-36-2) cleaned up Durrant with another full ball. The score was now at 61-6 with 27 over gone, the game was in the balance. Venn was playing a cautious innings, knowing that we had to take wickets to have a chance. Jutson (9-5-14-2) then found a length where the ball kept horribly low to get rid of Turner. After a loose over from Jopling Danners was brought back for his final over in an attempt to get the vital wicket, unfortunately it was to no avail as Halberton edged closer to victory. Samo came back for another over, as did Jopling, but it was slowly slipping away from us as Venn and Slater nudged the ball around. Jopling criminally bowled a couple of loose balls that were sent to the boundary. There was one more chance left though as Venn chipped the ball towards Jutson at mid-off, it cruelly hit the line of the sun leading Jutson to misjudge it and it went agonisingly over his head. It summed up our luck for the day as Venn (18n.o) and Salter (23 n.o) punished Jopling once more and took Halberton over the line with 5 overs and 3 wickets to spare.

A great effort by everyone in the field and one of our best bowling performances but frustratingly we only managed to come away with 4 points, our batting, particularly that of the top order to blame on this occasion. Due to other results we luckily didn't lose too much ground at the top of the table, though there are now much more teams in the mix!

Next week we play Whimple at home, another big game, and it will be nice to be back at home!

Current Table

Kentisbeare - 81

Countess Wear - 79

Cullompton - 79

Bridestowe - 74

Whimple - 73

Kilmington - 73

Halberton & SP - 67

Kenn - 57

Kingskerswell - 42

Topsham - 25