D&T 106 for 7, Harberton 86 for 8
The second XI, or rather a second XI skippered by the ex-Chairman had a good win over a strong Harberton side who had the luxury of being able to leave out Barry Goldsmith.
It was an odd fixture since several of our second team players also play for Harberton. Where would their loyalties lie?
Josh Thomas dealt with his conflict of loyalties by refusing to make himself available for either side. Nick Dennis had committed to Harberton several weeks ago despite opening the bowling for our 2s all last season. Probably not a bad thing for us as he went for 32 in his 4 overs on a difficult slow track.
Mick tossed the coin, Noah called wrongly and we decided to bat first whilst the light was better- it didn’t make much difference as the light stayed good.
Jarvo opened and batted for 19 overs for 36 extremely valuable runs. It was easy to gauge the difficulty of the wicket by watching Jarvs who has such a good eye and is a belligerent batsman. If he struggles to get the ball away you know the pitch is not easy. James Nicholls started well and we had 8 on the board after Noah Tobias’ first over. Nick managed to get a ball on the stumps and bowled Nicholls for 7 in his first over. Neil Colegate went for the same score, flashing at Dennis and being caught by Jack Skuse at cover. Scott Colegate took a fancy to Nick and smacked him for a couple of sixes before Chris ‘Trigger’ Tregelles trapped him lbw for 14. Fortunately extras (27) kept the scoreboard ticking over-mainly wides. Nobody else reached double figures but our total of 106 seemed likely to give us a chance if we bowled well. We knew Harberton had some dangerous batsmen.
After a loose start Andy Bligh (1 for 17) got into a rythym and bowled Bill Scott for 7. Scott Colegate bowled three very tidy overs before Mick decided to hold him back for an over at the death. Mick relieved Scott and although he was on the spot straight way Tom Heath smashed him for 6 over long on. Conceding 8 in his first over wasn’t in the script but his remaining 3 overs went for only one run and he picked up 3 wickets. The key dismissal was when the dangerous Skuse was well caught by Ollie Perkins at point. It seemed like a slow bowler’s pitch and sure enough when Glenn Colegate came on to bowl he produced fireworks bowling Heath with his first delivery and then bowling Wardrow with his third ball. He picked up 2 more wickets in his third over when Nicholls stumped Noah for 3 and another fine striker of the ball, Bob Owers was bowled for 1. Gareth Havard bowled a fine spell at the death and though Mike Powell (32 not out) batted creditably in a late surge, Harberton had left themselves with too much to do and fell short by 20 runs.
Brixham or Stoke Gabriel (away) await our brave lads in round 2 on 27th May!
The ex-Chairman will accept bribes from those keen to be selected!