Devon D West

Yelverton Bohemians first v Stokeinteignhead

YELVERTON Bohemians snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with an extraordinary middle order collapse against Stokeinteignhead at Langton Park. Having lost the toss and bowling first, Yelverton’s opening bowlers Pete Lojszczyk and Sam Crompton kept the scoring down and took early wickets, reducing Stokeinteignhead to 20-2. Hadleigh Scott-Kirk (1-20) bought the next wicket, caught by Crompton at first slip.

Pat Hobbs (1-11) and the returning Crompton (2-17) continued the pressure as Stokeinteignhead reached the drinks interval at 55-5.

After a brief counter-attacking batting, the return of Lojszczyk (4-25), supported by Steve Colmer (1-9) and Rich West (1-20), bowled Stokeinteignhead out for 119.

Yelverton started typically quickly, with Pat Hobbs (18) hitting a large six over mid-wicket. After a couple of quick wickets, Yelverton needed a period of rebuilding at 62-4.

With Lojszczyk (45) and Rob Grove (21) looking good, Yelverton reached 105-4 before an extraordinary spell of cricket resulted in the loss of five wickets for two runs. Despite the best efforts of the last two batsman, Yelverton fell five runs short of their target, to wild celebrations from the Stokeinteignhead fielders.