Paignton III 120 all out, Dartington & Totnes II 122 for 7
Dartington & Totnes (17 points) beat Paignton (4 points) by 3 wickets.
Dartington & Totnes second XI had scored over 200 at Foxhole in the previous match and after bowling out Paignton for 120 they might have anticipated a comfortable victory. However, they were quickly in trouble as Paignton reduced them to 27 for 4 but Steve Mackinlay with 37 and Olly Payne with 51 not out saw them home, as the team breathed a collective sigh of relief.
The torrential rain of Thursday and early Friday had left the Foxhole pitch a little damp despite it being covered. D&T asked Paignton to bat and they struggled to score against D&T’s opening bowlers, Nick Dennis and Scott Colegate. The pressure built and Tony Medlock (5) got a leading edge and was caught by Josh Thomas off Dennis, trying to force the scoring- 7 for 1 after 7 overs. Colegate bowled well but without reward until his final over when Luke Medlock hit a firm drive which Gavin Colegate, at mid-on, plucked out of the air one-handed. 39 for 2 after 18 overs.
Mick Rusling came into the attack and bowled opener Parkin for 23 with his third delivery. Rusling (2 for 22) then bowled Knight for a duck before the fifth wicket pair of Blackmore and skipper Richard Lloyd put a spanner in the works for D&T. It was slow going but once they got their eyes in they began to score more freely and added 52 before the partnership was broken when Mackinlay caught Blackmore for 25 off Jina. This heralded a collapse as Paignton lost their last 6 wickets for 19 runs in just five overs. Dennis (2 for 17) dismissed Lloyd for 34 when keeper, Olly Payne took a sensational diving catch and Glenn Colegate bamboozled Williams, before Jina whipped through the tail, taking 4 for 15 in three overs.
D&T made a positive start scoring nine in the first over and it seemed they might cruise to victory but Tom Petherick got a leading edge and was caught. Charlie Ward (3 for 16) then took three quick wickets, dismissing Scott Colegate, Nikheel Jina and Andy Bligh in his first 2 overs. Ward went for 10 in his next over and was surprisingly removed from the attack. Opener Mackinlay continued his good form and found a willing ally in Olly Payne and the pair scored freely, taking the score to 78 before Mackinlay hit a shot with too much elevation and Devon junior Ward took a finely judged catch at long on. Payne continued to find the boundary regularly and was doing all the scoring for D&T. The match swung again as Gavin and Glenn Colegate managed only one run between them- 110 for 7. Josh Thomas steadied the ship and with Payne saw D&T home to their eleventh victory of the season with 24 overs but only 3 wickets to spare!