Braunton cricketers start the weekend top of the pile

Braunton Cricket Club enter this weekend with title dreams very much alive after moving to the top of C Division East in the Tolchards Devon Cricket League.

Alphington and Countess Wear are the visitors on Saturday and Braunton know they must keep up the positive momentum with just two points separating them from Teignmouth and Shaldon in second place, while Uplyme & Lyme Regis and Ottery St Mary are not far behind in third and fourth.

Although Alphington are sitting in mid-table, they proved their quality last weekend, inflicting a first defeat of the campaign on Teignmouth and Shaldon, opening the door for Braunton to take the divisional lead.

Travelling to Shobrooke Park, Braunton were placed into bat by their hosts and, after losing opener Andrew Paddison for six, a solid partnership between Sam Bithell (52) and Callum Mitchell (33) put them in a decent position on 59-2.

A further 22 from Sam Reddick took them to 115-3 and there were contributions down the order from Andrew Norman (17), Daniel Brierley (16) and James Lake (15 no), leaving a total of 196-9 for Shobrooke to chase.

Teriq Worrell made an early breakthrough with the ball, knocking over the stumps of opener Henry Field for three and James Lake soon added a second wicket.

Shobrooke settled with a steady partnership of 60 between Chris Simpson (51) and Joe Harris (29) but Braunton fought back with a smart run out removing Harris and fine glovework by Ian Roberts from the bowling of Steve Moore ended the Simpson innings.

Shobrooke collapsed from 92-2 to 134 all out, with Moore and Joe Baglow taking three wickets each for a buoyant Braunton to win by 62 runs.

The good news continued for Braunton 2nds in E Division East, as they edged past league leaders Ottery St Mary 2nds in a high-scoring thriller.

An opening stand of 67 between Mark Thomas (29) and Nigel Cross (44) gave Braunton a terrific platform on their home ground and the middle order maintained the strong start, with James Kemp (29) and Peter Needham (29) both playing some nice shots.

Steve Hunt then came to the crease and bludgeoned eight boundaries in a rapid 45. Another 29 from skipper Ed Holmes helped Braunton to a terrific total of 282-9 from 45 overs.

Ottery, however, are top for a reason and put together a determined reply, spearheaded by Rob Johns (66). Led by Needham (3-26), the Braunton bowlers thankfully did enough to secure a memorable 33-run triumph.