Whitchurch II 113 fo 9, Dartington & Totnes II 117 for 7
D&T won by 3 wickets.
After bowling Whitchurch out for just 113, Dartington & Totnes were reduced to 57 for 7 in reply before an unbeaten eighth wicket stand of 60 between Will Gornall 38 not out and skipper Mike Jarvis 19 not out, saw them safely home.
Jarvis maintained his 100% record winning the toss and put the home side in to bat on a saturated pitch. With the footholds treacherous, paceman Will Gornall, opening the bowling for D&T soon cut his run down to a few paces but managed to generate plenty of speed. Jono Colegate at the other end struck first bowling Andy Alford for 3 and Gornall trapped Powell lbw for 15.
Third team skipper, Dave Griffiths, making his first second team start of the season, was the pick of D&T’s bowlers. Griffiths’ bowling was metronomic, with each delivery on yorker length. He bowled Freeman for 3 at which point luck deserted him as three catches went down off his bowling and keeper Taylor missed a stumping opportunity. Mick Rusling bowled Sherill and then had Charlie Barraball caught by Bligh at square leg. Griiffiths continued to bowl outstandingly at the other end and finally gained some reward when Gavin Colegate caught Hodge for 33 at mid-on.
Bone was run out for 13, Griffiths (3 for 23 off 13 overs) bowled R Powell and Gornall ( 2 for 29) returned to have Towl caught behind. Whitchurch skipper Neil Tamlin and Dunne held out to close on 113.
Knocking the runs off should have been a formality but the seconds don’t do formalities. Young spinner Barraball opened the bowling for Whitchurch and was extremely impressive, spinning the ball both ways with a consistent line and length. However, his opening partner Towl struck first blood, trapping Nikheel Jina lbw for 8. Gavin Colegate was in good form and despatched any loose delivery to the boundary. Liam Bligh95) was caught off Barraball with 34 on the board. Simon Hayes put in only a cursory appearance at the crease before being bamboozled by a ball from Barraball lbw for 2.
A turning point was the dismissal of Gavin Colegate in controversial fashion for 29. Colegate passed the stumps at the bowler’s end before a direct thow hit the stumps. The umpire had his back to Colegate but gave him out, much to the disbelief of the whole team. Paul Taylor, in a wretched run of form, got a top edge shortly afterwards and Ollie Perkins was bowled by the wily Barraball (3 for 26). Gornall joined Jono Colegate and after a horrendous mix-up Colegate was run out for 2 with D&T in deep trouble. Enter Captain Marvel, Mike Jarvis who changed the complexion of the game by bashing Barraball for a straight driven six. Gornall’s first scoring shots were a 4 and a 6 and he added another three fours and a further six as he and Jarvis saw the team home.