Ashburton CC 1XI vs Bridestowe CC 1XI - 06/06/15

                                                                                                                                                                                On match day 6 of the DCL, Bridestowe 1XI traveled to Ashburton, looking for another win to stay at the top of C(West). The visitors won the toss, and elected to bowl first on a hard, dry pitch. The opening spells from the Fogerty brothers were, again, excellent. After a couple of tight overs, Dan got Durman caught at mid-on as he mistimed a hook shot. Tom bowled McLellan soon after to leave the Ashes in trouble at 28-2. Causey and Dark then settled things down and put on 69, with Dark looking particularly dangerous through the covers. Khan got the breakthrough as he pushed one through a bit shorter and Mark Fogerty took a good catch standing up. Khan then bowled Pascoe to put BCC back in the driver's seat at 103-4. Spin-twins Down and Khan bowled tightly in the middle overs, but some good striking from Dark kept the score ticking along at a decent rate. Dark (51) was a little unfortunate to depart, as he overbalanced after missing one from Khan and Mark whipped off the bails as his back foot left the ground. The rest of Khan's spell was safely negotiated as he finished with great figures of 3-28, taking his DCL wicket tally to 17. Captain Berry batted well, but was running out of partners as Dan Fogerty (3-44) and Sizmur got two more wickets quickly. When Sizmur (2-44) comprehensively bowled Berry for a patient 42, Ashes were 169-7 and would be hard pushed to reach a competitive score. Some lusty blows towards the end from  Churchill and Coon got Ashburton to 204-9, but this was probably at least 50 short of what they would have wanted, thanks to another great performance in the field.The Bridestowe chase started in fine fashion, with Sizmur and Fogerty hitting numerous boundaries in the first few overs. Whereas Gary was chancing his arm, flaying boundaries over the off - side, Tom was looking just as solid as he had during his 140 the previous week. Unfortunately, with the score on 41, Tom slipped coming back for a second and was easily run out. Sizmur and Down continued the assault, and by the 8th over, 4 different bowlers had already had a go at slowing the run rate. With the success of BCC's spinners, it was unsurprising that Ashes sent for thier's early, but, with the exception of McLellan, they couldn't keep it as tight. McLellan (1-27) bowled well and got appreciable turn from the surface, it was his arm ball that did for Sizmur though, as he pushed it through to bowl him for a boundary-laden 37. His wicket did slow the scoring rate slightly, but Down quickly decided to go after leg-spinner Dark (1-58) and smashed 3 straight sixes, the last of which to bring up an excellent 50. He was then caught on the boundary to take his DCL average to 113 from his three innings so far this year. Khan was batting calmly at one end, and ran well with James to edge the visitors closer to the winning target. James (31no) also played relatively sedately and just pushed the ball into the gaps, though he did also launch one six into the hedge. Khan (55no) finished the game in fine style, with a big six which also brought up his maiden BCC half-century.

Bridestowe (19pts) beat Ashburton (6pts) by 7 wickets.

Next week Bridestowe 1sts are at home for a hugely important 1st vs 2nd match-up against local rivals Chagford.

Photo below was from local professional Photographer, Julian Preston.  More photos of the match are available on his Facebook site here https://www.facebook.com/julian.preston.14?fref=ts