Dartington & Totnes II 185 for 7, Plymouth IV 110 all out
Dartington and Totnes won by 75 runs.
If they had believed the cataclysmic weather forecast neither team would have bothered getting out of bed on Saturday, never mind contemplating a game of cricket. It didn’t look too promising en route to the game as the sky was dominated with rain and dark clouds. By the time the team reached the ground at Torpoint, after a brief ‘cruise’ across the Tamar the clouds were blowing over and the start delayed by only 45 minutes with the match reduced to 40 overs per side.
D&T skipper David Carter resisted the temptation to open the batting to protect his top order, as has recently been his wont. Whether this was because he’d spotted a green pitch and wanted to preserve his batting average is a moot point. Interestingly, after the previous week’s batting debacle some of the top order were coming round to the skipper’s idea they needed protection. Indeed Mike Jarvis may still be of this opinion after perishing early on. It was the second time recently that Jarvis has perished after hitting a six. After his big hit over long on and a long delay due to searching for the ball Jarvis (14) lost concentration and edged a shortish delivery to the keeper.
The in-form Richard Sugden was joined by Gavin Colegate and the pair put on 82 for the second wicket building a terrific platform. They saw off several bowlers before Sugden was trapped lbw for 39 by Plymouth’s sixth bowler, Stewart. Sugden again demonstrated his remarkable ability of inducing fielders to drop straightforward catches. Liam Bligh was going well before he holed out to extra cover off Stewart for 17.
With ten overs remaining D&T were 149 for 3 and looking for a score in excess of 200. However, Plymouth’s bowlers fought back and restricted their visitors to 36 runs off the remaining overs. Colegate’s fine innings ended for 59, another victim of Stewart (5 for 37). Tom Petherick suffered a freakish dismissal when Paul Taylor drove a ball straight back to the bowler, who couldn’t hold the chance and the ball deflected onto the stumps with Petherick out of his ground. Wickets fell as D&T looked to cash in. Dan Goord finished with 12 not out and under 15 player Niall Mulhall did well making 9 not out at the end.
Plymouth found runs hard to come by against accurate bowling from D&T’s opening bowlers, Jono Colegate and Mick Rusling. The pressure finally told when Cunningham was run out, following good work by Bligh. Thomas tried to get the score moving but succeeded only in hitting Rusling straight to Carter at mid on. Rusling (2 for 22 in 12 overs) struck again in his next over trapping Stewart lbw after a terrific appeal. Jono Colegate had been unlucky when several edged shots in the air between point and gully failed to go to fielders.
Colegate’s replacement Carter hit a purple patch. In his second over he had Hagan-Burt lbw but this was nothing compared to his next over when he dismissed three batsmen. He bowled Singlehurst and Widnell and trapped Plymouth skipper Barnes lbw first ball. Five successive batsmen had been dismissed for a duck as Plymouth slumped to 37 for 7 with 23 overs remaining. They staged a remarkable comeback as D&T made heavy weather of finishing the game off. Opener Hughes who had survived an early dropped catch found a fine partner in young Colwill. The pair added 41 and survived 12 overs before Sugden finally had Hughes caught by Carter at point for 37. Colmer was playing very correctly and oozing confidence by now. Sugden (2 for 25) had Wood lbw for 8, but the last pair brought up the hundred and were eyeing the 123 needed for a losing draw. Colwill was unphased by Carter steaming in at full throttle before finally getting a top edge and being caught by Goord for 24 with only two overs remaining. Carter finished with 5 for 38 off 12 overs- a fine performance.