Bradninch & Kentisbeare powered towards a second Devon League Premier Division title in three years after a terrific all-round performance that saw them serve up an emphatic nine wicket success at Exmouth.
The home side won the toss and opted to bat first and, fittingly, it was skipper Gary Chappell who claimed the tenth and final wicket – the last away wicket of the 2024 campaign – as B&K bundled hosts Exmouth out for just 90 runs in 28 overs and one ball.
With rain delaying the start at the Maer Ground – and also the action at The County Ground, Exeter, where title contenders Exeter and Sandford were going head-to-head – the match was reduced to 33 overs per side.
Exmouth won the toss, batted first, and negotiated the first 16 overs in relative comfort – reaching a total of 60-1 – the one wicket being that of Richard Baggs, trapped leg before by Ross Acton when the total was on 10, one ball into the seventh over.
However, from that point it was a case of ‘tumbling wickets’ as – in the space of 73 deliveries, nine further wickets were snared for the addition of just another 30 runs, leading to that all out total of 90.
In terms of the home batting effort; opener James Horler, (27 from 69 balls), skipper Lawrence Greenway (28 from 31 balls) and number seven bat Elijah Pyne (13 not out from 31 balls), managed to register double figure scores with the other eight batters managing just ten runs between them – half of those from Richard Baggs.
The B&K bowling returns were: Ross Acton (2-18 from seven); Mitch Pugh (2-15 from seven), Andrew Buzza (0-23 from three), Jon Triner (1-3 from three), Gary Chappell (3-11 from 5.1 overs) and Josh Farley (2-15 from three).
B&K openers Gary Chappell and Tim Piper were in no mood to hang about and 18 runs came from the first two overs and it was 41 without loss after only six overs and the fifty was duly reached during the eighth over.
After 11 overs had been completed the total was 66 with the winning line just 25 runs away!
The one and only wicket to be lost in an otherwise perfect run chase was that of Tim Piper, bowled for a 32-ball 17 to leave B&K on 71, just eighteen runs short of the winning line.
Mitch Pugh joined the skipper and the pair were soon trooping back to the Pavilion, ‘Chaps’ with a match-winning unbeaten 55 scored from 64 deliveries, hitting nine fours and a six while Pugh was not out three.
The B&K team in action on the penultimate matchday of the league campaign: Gary Chappell (Capt), Justin Wubbeling (w/k), Tim Piper, Mitchell Pugh, Madawa Warnapura, Jonathan Triner, Andrew Buzza, Daniel Hardy, Joshua Farley, Ross Acton and Eliot Acton.