Ashburton first team travelled to play a Plymouth second team who were joint second in the league with them
The home team won the toss and chose to bat on a decent looking batting strip. This proved to be the case as the Plymouth openers John Kerridge (74) and Ollie Parsons (38) put on 129 for the opening wicket at a run a ball. When both fell in quick succession Adam Talbott (50), Tom Hughes (41) and Sam Knapman (21) kept the runs flowing as the Ashes bowlers toiled and Plymouth closed on an imposing final total of 271 for 7 in 45 overs. Chris Yeo (9 overs, 4 for 38) was the pick of the Ashburton bowlers.
Ashburton lost Jake Pascoe (7) early in their chase but surviving opener Lloyd White and skipper Ashley Berry (27) added 66 and then Dan Coles (24) joined White to chalk off a further 64 to leave Ashes well placed at 153 for 3. The required rate was climbing all the time and when White fell for an excellent 85 good knocks from Chris Pascoe (26 off 17 balls) and Arun Karthick (35 off 18 balls) kept Ashes in the game. Unfortunately wickets kept falling and 50 off of the last five overs proved too much of an ask as Ashburton were bowled out 23 runs short of the Plymouth total with 6 balls remaining.
Skipper Berry said after the game "A fantastic game of cricket and a credit to both sides. Sadly we just pulled up a little short but there were plenty of positives in all three aspects of our game which we can take into next week and beyond.".
Lloyd White who lead the Ashburton chase with 85
Ashburton second team entertained Cornwood 3rd team who won the toss and elected to bat on a sunny afternoon. Cornwood's innings was based around 115 from opener Joshua Wood. However there was not a lot in the way of support and Robin Lambert (6 overs, 1 for 13), Jerry Crouch (8 overs, 0 for 25), James Rush (8 overs, 2 for 27) and Freddie Harvey (5 overs, 1 for 21) all kept things tight. Ashton West (2 for 26) picked up wickets in the dash for runs at the end as Cornwood finished on 193 for 9 after their 40 overs. A good fielding effort with stand out displays from Toby Pascoe (2 run outs) and James Rush (2 solid catches).
A re-jigged batting order saw a number of contributions as Marcus West (33), Jerry Crouch (31), James Rush (25), skipper Nick Yabsley (17) and Tom Rush (13) threatened to put Ashes in a winning position but unfortunately nobody was able to go on and convert their start into the big score needed to win the game as they finished on 156 for 8 after 40 overs. A great effort to pick up 8 points with a young side.
James Rush takes a wicket for Ashburton second team on Saturday as wicket keeper Tom Rush looks on (credit Julian Preston)