Bradninch v Tavistock firsts

BUOYED from beating top of the table Cornwood on their own ground Tavistock travelled to third place Bradninch on Saturday.

The home side batted first and Devon player Gary Chappell was always going to prove difficult to shift; he, along with Tom Bunker, put on an impressive 151 for the first wicket with Chappell making 89, including two sixes, while bunker reached 64. A huge total looked inevitable but Tavistock’s young Ben Evans bowled superbly, restricting the batsman to just 37 runs from his 10 overs.

Tavistock skipper Shaun Daymond turned to Billy Barriball and himself  to stop the scoring and wickets began to tumble – no other Bradninch batsman scored past 18 with Daymond taking 5-32 and Billy Barriball 4-46 as the innings was restricted to a par score of 225. It was a great effort by the Tavistock side.

In reply Tavistock were soon in trouble and at 26-3 stared defeat in the face. However, yet again talisman Dave Manning was there to rescue the innings; along with Dylan Auchamp they set about rebuilding the innings,they put on a superb 165 for the fourth wicket as Auchamp made 90 while Manning saw his side over the line with 93 not out to record an excellent win for the visitors.

The Tavistock side are now close and challenging for third place in the table – a remarkable achievement in their first season back in the division.

Top of Devon A P W L T C Pts

Cornwood 16 13 3 0 0 259

Hatherleigh 16 12 3 0 1 256

Bradninch 16 12 4 0 0 244

Budleigh Salterton 16 11 4 0 1 240

Tavistock 16 10 6 0 0 231

Plympton 16 6 1 0 0 170