Dartington & Totnes III 138 all out, Babbacombe Corinthinans II 80 all out
D&T (17 points) beat Babbacombe (5 points) by 58 runs
A fine innings of 78 from 75 deliveries from Mike Jarvis swung the game in Dartington & Totnes’ favour before David Carter demolished the Babbacombe batting, taking 5 for 4 in a ferocious five over spell.
The second team match being cancelled was manna from heaven for the third XI who were chronically short of players. Heavily reinforced they were put in to bat on a damp, slow track and were soon struggling for runs against a good bowling attack. The ball was not coming onto the bat and Darren Colegate and Carter found runs hard to come by as bowlers Williams and Powell found a lot of movement. The batsmen did a good job but the score had only reached 22 by the fifteenth over when Carter (10) drove Williams into the grateful hands of mid-off. Ollie Perkins was bowled by Passmore for 1 and Colegate (9) soon followed, caught at slip off Williams (2 for 11 in 11 overs), though Colegate maintained he had not hit the ball. When Passmore bowled Andrew Bligh, D&T were in big trouble at 32 for 4. Enter skipper Mike Jarvis.
Jarvis showed his intent by hitting the first two deliveries he faced for four. He put on 32 with Paul Raven, who was looking comfortable before being caught off Porter for 8. Jarvis and Zac Sheppard, put on 52 for the 6th wicket, with Sheppard’s contribution being 8. Jarvis engaged in some powerful hitting not being afraid to take on the fielders. Fortune favoured the brave- Jarvis had several escapes including being ‘caught’ at long-on, only for the fielder to overbalance and concede a six. Jarvis’ innings included 12 fours and another six, with several other shots stopping mighty close to the boundary.
Jarvis was ninth man out, finally succumbing to Powell (5 for 29), top edging a simple catch to cover. Wicketless in his first spell Powell came back to take 5 wickets in three overs- also dismissing Sheppard, Rowe, Glen and Lowe. D&T were confident that 138 was a good score on that wicket.
In reply Babbacombe started well with Lewis particularly impressive. Mick Rusling got the first breakthrough when Cliff Lowe caught Porter (7) at point. Pete Glen had a good spell, bowlingd Sosnowski, and was unlucky when several mis-timed shots evaded the fielder. Palmer and Lewis rallied, reaching 47 before Rusling dislodged Palmer’s bails. Lewis was batting very well and whilst he remained there was hope for Babbacombe. The bounce seemed to became more unpredictable with occasional deliveries shooting along the ground and others lifting off a length.
Jarvis unleashed David ‘The Beast’ Carter into the attack which paid immediate dividends as he trapped Ince lbw in his first over and then struck twice in his second over, removing Inch’s middle stump and having Sleeman sky a top edge to Rowe at backward point. Rusling cut one in to bowl Powell for 2 and when Carter bowled Lewis for 41 with another terrific delivery the game was well and truly up for Babbacombe. Carter, tearing in, bowled Passmore to claim his ‘fivefor’.
Darren Rowe relieved Rusling and the game took on a surreal tone as Rowe overpitched several times with the umpires disagreeing about whether they were no-balls. One delivery which appeared over shoulder height dropped like a stone to hit the stumps. On this occasion both umpires agreed it was a no-ball! Lowe nonchalantly took a one-handed catch at short mid-off to dismiss Williams off Rowe for 2 and the innings ended. Zac Sheppard did a brilliant job for us behind the stumps.