Devon C West

Bridestowe v Dartington and Totnes

ON Saturday, Bridestowe's winning run came to an end at the hands of Dartington and Totnes.

Bridestowe won the toss and elected to bowl first. Tom Fogerty (1-34) continued his good form with the ball by bowling Colgate with no runs on the board.

Dan Fogerty (2-27) soon had one too‚ bowling Haw, also for nought. He then took another as Cook clipped one straight to Sizmur at mid-wicket. A short rain break meant that the game was reduced to 44 overs a side, but perhaps more significantly the wet ball stopped swinging.

Van Niekerk and Veale took advantage and saw out the rest of the opening spells. A few shots went just away from the fielder's reach and the Dartington and Totnes score began to move along at a healthy rate. Van Niekerk raced to 50 with another boundary before Khan (1-35) removed him by finding his top-edge which was expertly pouched by James Ewen over his shoulder.

Another good partnership between Veale (36) and Baxendale (38) took the visitors to 122-4 at drinks, and a score over 200 was looking inevitable.

Gary Sizmur (4-23) then picked up a couple of quick wickets, thanks to good catches by Shaw and Butler. Lavis (1-42) bowled an accurate spell, almost without reward until he picked up Veale, caught by Hatton at slip for 36. Tim Shaw (1-4) started his first spell for the first team in fine style, picking up a wicket with his second ball as he bowled Bligh for 0.

Sizmur continued to bowl accurately, and was well backed up by his fielders, Shaw and Khan, who held another two excellent catches.

That left Dartington and Totnes 179 all out after being 168-4, which represented a superb comeback for the Bridestowe bowlers and fielders. One area for concern for the home side was the 43 extras.

The Bridestowe chase also got off to the worst possible start as Sizmur smashed a Colgate full toss straight to short cover.

Tom Fogerty and Sam Ewen rebuilt the innings well, remaining patient and crashing a few loose balls to the boundary. The partnership passed 50 before Sam (37) took a wild swing at a full ball from Colgate (2-40) and feathered an edge behind.

Tom (16) was out soon after as he guided a short ball from Howrihane straight to backward point. James Ewen was then bowled for 2 by Cooke by one which turned sharply.

With the score at 81-4 the game was in the balance, and Khan and Hatton were left to steady the ship. They did so, with both finding the gaps well to take the score to 120-4 until Khan (25) chipped one back to Baxendale.

Dan Fogerty smashed Van Niekerk for a massive six which hit the hedge at the road end but he then went to a top edge from Baxendale (2-37). Shaw was then stumped off Van Niekerk for 1 and the game was back in the balance at 146-7. Butler clubbed another huge six but was caught trying to repeat the act off Van Niekerk (2-22).

Disaster then struck for Bridestowe as Phil set off for a sharp single, only to be sent back by Lavis, meaning Phil (35) was run out. That left the last pair of Mark Fogerty and Lavis needing 21 more for a win which had seemed in the bag.

The score edged towards the target as Lavis smashed a four through the off-side and Fogerty stole a few singles.

It all came down to the final over, to be bowled by Dartington and Totnes captain Howrihane (2-26). He only needed one ball as Lavis tried to finish it with one shot and was bowled. Bridestowe finished on 176 all out — an agonising three runs short. With nine points accumulated, Bridestowe remain top of C West by 11 points.