1st XI lose by 8 wickets – Coon bats through but Chargers post below par total – Yeo opening spell fantastic but Lewdown skipper bats on – 2nds leave it late as youth shine – Bartram hits winning run with 2 balls to spare – Higgs, Cowdry, Field and both Pascoe’s play their part as 2nd XI make it two from two!
Ashburton first team hosted Lewdown, lost the toss and were asked to bat first on a pitch that looked reasonably firm, writes Dan Coles.
Skipper Ashley Berry and Lloyd White started positively and had added 26 before White fell victim to an LBW decision. Dan Coles joined Berry and a further 21 were added before Berry was unluckily bowled off of his pads for 28. Will Coon and Coles added a further 25 before Coles then fell for 22.
A promising position of 77 for 3 at the halfway stage then saw regular wickets fall as only Coon (34no) stood fast as wickets fell regularly to Tom Pengelly (5 for 17) and Ashburton subsided to a well below par total, of 133 all out.
Chris Yeo bowled an excellent opening spell and deserved much more than his figures outlined (9 overs, 1 for 16) however runs came quickly at the other end as Lewdown skipper Dave Ball punished anything loose. Russ Lacey was introduced after Yeo and picked up a wicket to give Ashes a bowling point but Ball batted through for an excellent 71 not out as Ashes were beaten by 8 wickets with over 17 overs remaining.
Berry reflected on the loss; “We didn’t really hit our marks with bat or ball but the guys gave a really good effort, as always. It was a good game fought by two clubs in similar situations. At this early stage, its intriguing how this league is going to pan out.”
Ashburton 133 all out (W Coon 34no, A Berry 28, D Coles 22, T Pengelly 5-17)
Lewdown 136 for 2 (D Ball 71no, T Pengelly 28no, C Yeo 1-16, R Lacey 1-25)
Ashburton 2nds made it two wins from two with a nail biting win against Bovey thirds.
After winning the toss and fielding wickets were hard to come by as Bovey totted up 230 for 5 in their 40 overs with Tony England (71) and Malcolm Senior (67) in the runs. Robin Lambert (8 overs, 1 for 18) bowled a tidy opening spell for Ashes and Jake Pascoe (6 overs, 2 for 36) picked up a couple of wickets in the middle of the innings.
The Ashburton reply was led by an imperious knock of 114 from Chris Pascoe. However, when he fell at 169 for 3 there were still 62 runs to be found with a youthful lower order to come. Thirteen-year-old Jake Pascoe (37) marshalled the lower order superbly and a 53-run partnership with Harvey Field (11) who is also thirteen, kept Ashes in the game. A flurry of wickets fell towards the end as 223 for 4 became 227 for 9. However final pair Jake Bartram and Michael Davies kept their cool to seal a nail biting victory by one wicket with two balls to spare.
Second team skipper Chris Yeo said after the game “A superb result. The heroes were our young guns with Sam Higgs keeping superbly on debut, Jake Pascoe and Harvey Field with a match-winning 50 run partnership and Jake Bartram hitting the winning run. A great sign of things to come from our colts”
Bovey Tracey III 230-5 (M Senior 67, T England 71, M Taylor 48; J Pascoe 2-36), Ashburton II 231-9 (C Pascoe 114, J Pascoe 37, Extras 40; S England 3-35, L Solway 3-32). Ashburton (17pts) bt Bovey Tracey (9) by 1 wkt.
