Devon G West

Shaldon Optimists v Whitchuch seconds

WHITCHURCH Seconds made their longest journey of the season to face Shaldon with faint hopes of promotion.

They lost the toss and were invited to bat first on a good looking batting pitch. Hunt and Tilsley made a solid start seeing off the opening bowlers and adding 60 for the first wicket before Hunt was caught and bowled by Grant at the fourth attempt.

A typical Whitchurch mini-collapse followed. Tilsley was out for 18 with Donnelly taking 3 for 51. This brought Meadows to the crease who was in no mood to hang around… or run! He dealt mainly in boundaries passing 50 in only 17 balls. The onslaught continued with Meadows bringing up his century. He was finally caught on the boundary for 114. An innings comprising 14 sixes and five fours.

Full batting points were in the bag with 12 overs to go, enabling Tamblin and young Fynn Hall to work the ball around. Tamblin (25 not out) allowed Hall to dominate the strike. An unbeaten 90 was added for the seventh wicket, as Fynn ended agonisingly short of a first league half century on 49 not out. The total posted for the visitors was an impressive 294-6.

The Shaldon reply was steady as Whitchurch’s bowlers failed to hit their mark and the fielding was a bit lackadaisical with several catches going down.

102 had been added by Attwood (64) and Wilcox (42) when Meadows got the breakthrough. Three wickets fell with the score on 130, which ended any thoughts of Shaldon challenging for a win. Meadows doing the damage with 3-42.

Whitchurch mixed up the bowling looking for wickets. Tamblin the pick of the rest with 2-39. Larkman (28 not out) and Crocker (27 not out) dug in, to ensure Shaldon passed 200 for maximum batting points.

This win closes a fine season for the seconds who look likely to finish fourth and just miss out on promotion. The number of youngsters making progress is encouraging for 2019.