Tom and Dom Durman stole the show away at Bridestowe on a cold May afternoon as the Ashburton Chargers made it 59 points from a possible 60 after winning their first three fixtures.
Skipper Berry losing, what looked at the time, a vital toss to win. The hosts quickly opting to bowl first in what would be tricky conditions for any side. After removing Lloyd White LBW for 8, Martin Causey bowled for 14 and overseas Tristan Wakefield caught on the ropes for 12, the two teams were evenly poised with the game at 84/3 at drinks. Tom Durman not out on 45.
Tom then pushed on with a patient but well executed knock of 111 taking the Chargers to 189-8 from their allocated 45 overs.
With the pitch quickly deteriorating due to drizzle and cold weather during the week, Bridestowe took the attack to Ashburton. However Dom Durman had other ideas coming on first change and grabbed himself 5/18 with Marcus West rolling back the years with 3/22. Both bowlers adapting to the conditions with control and swing. Wakefield had a brace (2/17) with the new ball set the tone for the innings.
One for the statisticians – A total of 8 different outfield catchers were used, with just Wakefield, White and Duncan Hadrell not needed to take one.
Berry expressed his delight once again – “The Durman brothers will no doubt steal the headlines but this was once again a very well executed team performance. We batted extremely well in partnerships which meant the lower half of the order had a licence to attack come the end of the innings. Whilst it didn’t quite come off, we still got ourselves to a respectable score. Tommy’s knock was one of pure excellence.
With the ball, we bowled tight areas and we took every catch possible, which is just what you need to do in those kind of games and conditions. We look forward to hosting Stoke Gabriel at the weekend.”
Ashburton 189-8 (T Durman111; T Fogerty 2-35, R Dennis 2-32, G Sizmur 2-36), Bridestowe 96 (T Fogerty 45no, D Durman 5-18, M West 3-22). Ashburton (19pts) bt Bridestowe (6) by 93 runs.
2nd XI: Twos endured another rain affected game this week but came away with a win. In a game reduced to 39 overs each, Plymouth bowled very well up front but 90 runs off our last 10 overs, thanks to a mixture of some good shots and some fortune, took us up to 191-7. Chris Pascoe with 46 and skipper Yeo a rapid 50 from 29 balls.
Jerry Crouch then led the effort with the ball, taking 4, with spin twins Jack Churchill and Jake Pascoe bowling 15 tight overs with a wicket each, with Jake also combining with tom rush with a late run out. Finished with a 75 run win.
Ashburton 191-7 (C Pascoe 46, C Yeo 50; S Langmead 3-56), Plymouth 117. Ashburton (19pts) bt Plymouth (5) by 74 runs.
Below: Dom Durman batting with Matt Churchill at the non strikers end.
