The Sweep 26 Week 11: Ones deliver textbook victory

B Pedley Ct Butterworth B Mohsin Khan 5

Words: Simon Travers

Match Photos: Ivor Thomas

While the Ones might not be in pole position to win the Premier Division, they are making their presence felt as loudly as England’s Barmy Army trombonist. Last week’s away win against Exmouth shook the race up and Saturday was Paignton’s turn to renew their rivalry at Oak Park. It was a special Saturday at Oak Park that saw not only a visit from old Welsh friends but also a giant social with Horse Race night raising money for the Ian Devine Fund and the England win following. A massive shout needs to be raised for everyone involved in making the night a success, especially the catering and bar teams.

The Ones have proved beyond doubt this year that they can deal with adversity but Saturday’s 49 run win over Paignton was just about a textbook victory that put Paignton a full 20 points behind league leaders Exeter. The Seasiders have the top domestic and overseas wicket takers in the Division, and with Cornwood batting first, Ayabulela Gqamana (4-55) was into his work with two quick wickets. From there, Cornwood’s middle order fired on full throttle. Charlie Finan took the game to the visitors with 6 punchy boundaries for 39 from 38 balls. Then Stanley Baker and Mohsin Khan collaborated on a 96 run fourth wicket partnership of equals. Mohsin made 49 from 46 before being caught one short of a half century. Stan matched him stride for stride, making 45 from 60 in the partnership on his way to his first adult league half-century for Cornwood. Everyone could join in the celebrations as Stan broke through to make 55 from 88 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes before he was stumped attacking spinner Rory Medlock (3-50). Building from a platform of 180-5 with 15 overs to go, Matt Skeemer marshalled the closing overs with a solid 70 from 64 with 6 fours and 3 sixes. The Ones batted their overs bar one ball for 265, comfortably an above par total for Oak Park against the team with the most bowling bonus points in the league.

Stanley Baker

The Ones opening bowlers Matt Skeemer and Mohsin Khan swarmed the Paignton batters through the powerplay. They had to wait 11 balls to benefit from the adage of three maidens in a row brings a wicket, but one brought three. Paignton were 13-3 at the end of the powerplay, 80 runs behind the DLS par needing 6.32 an over. Luke Medlock (33) looked to attack while Harry Ward rotated strike in a fourth wicket partnership of 59 but when Medlock departed, Cornwood capitalised again. Paignton found themselves 106-6 with 22 overs remaining. Charlie Ward worked hard for an unbeaten 60* and Ollie Woodcock chipped in for 32 from 29, but the damage had been done. There were three wickets a piece for Matt Skeemer (3 for 30) and Adam Goodliffe (3 for 53) as Paignton were bowled out for 216, 49 runs less than the Ones. That win makes Paignton the sixth side the Ones have beaten this season. They need wins against Sidmouth, Exeter and Hatherleigh for a full set.

The appeal goes up

Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Exeter bested Sandford in all areas and remain 9 points clear. Dan Pyle’s ton counted for more than Gary Chappell’s as Exmouth beat Bradninch & Kentisbeare by 7 runs. The drop zone matches provided drama as Hatherleigh cruised past Plymouth at Mountwise and Tavistock put on a show away against Sidmouth. Plymouth and Sidmouth are currently in the relegation hot seats. The Ones climb back to fourth.

The Threes are the only Cornwood DCL team with a fighting chance of securing a promotion this season, partly as they are the only team in a division that is not ‘first place or bust’. They took the short hop to Plympton seeking a win to keep pressure on Babbacombe and Kenn. Adam Whiting stuck with the gameplan in winning the toss and electing to brave the heatdome in the field. Plympton’s openers progressed through the new ball spell to make 53 for the first wicket, but after Mike Hodge removed Andy Ferriman, Andy Bees took over. It was a vintage performance for Andy. He beat the outside edge to force catches, including an impressive one-handed slip grab for Mike Hodge, and beat the inside edge to hit the stumps. Plympton collapsed for 126-7 with Andy finishing on 9-5-15-6. Those are not quite Andy’s all time best figures. The Devon Cricket archive records a 7-36 spell against Bovey Tracey in 2004, and there was a 6-13 against Lewdown in 2018, but it was still top draw.

Mike Hodge takes a one handed catch at gully (courtesy of Plympton CC livestream)

After Andy completed his spell, Plympton recovered on the back of an unbeaten 81* from 77 by Jack Sellick to set a total of 231-8 in 45 overs. The Threes were carried over the line of their chase with four wickets and 2.5 overs remaining by a classic innings from Aviral Srivastava, which just sneaks into the top 10 all-time centuries for the Threes. Aviral made an unbeaten 121* from 127 with 21 boundaries in a controlled dismantling of the Plympton attack. He punished any width on the off-side early in the innings, and as the bowlers were knocked off their line, a string of sweeps and pulls followed. Duncan Cumberland provided support with 28 from a third wicket partnership of 81. The Threes are third in the E Division West table, 5 points behind Kenn in the second promotion place.

Aviral Srivastava

The Threes pulled double duty this weekend as they also booked their place on finals day in the Tidball Insurance T20 Cup. The team made the best of starts against Paignton 3XI at Oak Park as Dan Rohde picked up 3-14 in his four overs. Despite 40 from 35 from the visitors’ Harry Roberts, the Threes never let the pressure drop in the field and Paignton made a run a ball 121-8 in their 20 overs. Luke Temple-Smith broke the back of the chase with 57 from 43 including 9 fours and 2 sixes as Cornwood romped home for a five wicket win with 20 balls in hand. It is the second year running that the Threes have made finals day.

Luke Temple-Smith

One last note from the Threes, Evie Privett delivered again for Cornwall Women on Sunday. She hit her third half-century of the season for the county side in a One Day Cup game against Hertfordshire. The result didn’t go Cornwall’s way but Evie impressed with a top scoring 54 from 57.

If cricket were boxing, the Twos would have been stopped by the ref in the first round as they travelled to play Paignton 2XI. Paignton seamer Jacob Lander landed a wicked combination in the Two’s middle order’s solar plexus as he took a fourth over hat-trick. With two batters already departed, the Twos were a Partonesque 9-5. Jacob Lander finished with figures of 5-27 while his new ball partner Jack Harman took 3-24. Things improved for the Twos as Ayaan Chatterjee and Eoin Hewitt took the opportunity to make the hosts work for their wickets. The side was bowled out though for 112 in 33.5 overs with extras the clear highest scorer. Having already done the damage, Paignton batted sensibly and were done and dusted in 18.2 overs for a comprehensive 8 wicket victory.

Harvey Smith

The Fours lost no ground on a bye week from G Division West and used the weekend productively with a reunion with old friends Barry West End. In a game where everyone apart from the keepers bowled, the tourists won the toss and elected to bat. Dafydd Frost got the party started with 36 from 26 while Will Morgan made 47 from 51. Captain Steve Oram provided runs later in the innings with an unbeaten 30* from 50 in a total of 211-7. Pick of the Cornwood bowlers was Harvey Smith with 2-31. In a match full of old men, Charles Knight was the only retiree making 50* from 46 balls. That innings was supported by 30 for Anthony Chapman and a solid 34 from 60 for Lennon Way. Henry Dawson was sharp in the field with two stumpings for Barry, but a final burst of 40* from 36 from Julian Burrows saw the Fours home by five wickets.

Marc Whaley bowls to turncoat Matthew Lott of Barry West End

There was another Cornwood family occasion on Sunday as the Fives played their annual fixture against the South Asian Society. That came both from the crossovers between the teams and also plenty of family batting combinations. South Asian Society batted first and made 161-9 in 30 overs. Ayaan Chatterjee top scored for them with 31* from 27 while Neel Shivane made 28 and Suresh Warrier made a boundary packed 21. Harvey Smith led the Fives bowling with 3-28 and Noah Garland took 2-9. Noah Garland (34*) and Lennon Way (30*) made inroads with their unbeaten opening partnership and Tom Burrows supported with 27, but the South Asian Society made their way back into the match with a pair of wickets for Rehaan Chatterjee, Amit Dhulkotia and Tarun Warrier. The Fives claimed a 2 wicket victory with 7 balls spare, but this was one of those big sun, big fun days where unapologetically and unironically cricket is the winner.

Cornwood 5XI and South Asian Society

Cornwood were most certainly the winners though when the P&D team faced HMS Drake for the second time this year. The Delamore Park astro is unforgiving for bowlers in dry conditions and Cornwood struggled to contain the visitors on their way to 212-2. Leon Cole (49), Dave Stubbs (55*) and Hallam Riggs (55*) found the boundaries often, while Raff Gribble kept the bats quiet. Even with Josh Wood hitting a counter-attacking 50* from 25 and Yasser Oriolowo scoring 36, the game looked done with 22 balls to go and an ask of 66 runs for victory. Step forward Dan Rohde, ably assisted with 4 boundaries from Simon Garland, to make another magic P&D moment. Dan switched on as HMS Drake wore out to the tune of 51* from 21 balls including 4 fours and 5 sixes and the team got home with 3 balls spare.

Result of the week in the colts section was a massive Under 15 girls win against the toughest team and league leaders of their division, Paignton. Charlotte had an outstanding night with a wicket, a key run out and a retirement 30*, but it was a massive team effort by everyone to claim a first win of the year. Elsewhere, the Under 15s Tier 1 team beat Tavistock with 61 and 3-26 for Stan and 50 for Josh, and 4-21 for Sam. Raff made 33* in a Under 15 Tier 2 loss to Plymouth. The Under 13 Tier 2 team beat Ivybridge by 9 wickets with a solid team bowling effort and 30* from Rehaan and 26 from Aalee, while the Girls Under 13s were in tournament action on Sunday against Tavistock and Plymouth.

Next weekend, the Ones head to Sandford while the Twos host Hatherleigh 2XI. The Threes head north to Bridestowe and Belstone while the Fours are back in league action against Whitchurch. The Women’s Firsts take the short trip to Mountwise on Sunday for a DWCL match against Plymouth.