Devon prevail in a thrilling finish against Cheshire: Minor Counties Championship 2011
Devon held their nerves to win a closely fought game against Cheshire by three wickets in a match of the Minor Counties Championship, at the Recreation Ground, Torquay in England on Tuesday, July 12, 2011.
The match was dominated by Devon throughout, but they almost gave it away on the final day’s play. The team had to chase down 91 runs for victory and looked to achieve the target comfortably.
However, there was a lot of drama during the chase, as Devon lost seven wickets in the process. It was a great game of cricket in the end and the spectators enjoyed it ball by ball.
Cheshire’s captain Andrew Hall decided to bat first after winning the toss. He expected his side to post a decent total, as the pitch was good for the batsmen. However, the team only managed 191 in their first outing.
Most of the batsmen in the Cheshire innings got out after getting starts and none was able to bat with responsibility. The highest score in the innings came from lower-order player Richard Logan, who collected 37 runs.
James Duffy was the other player, who looked impressive, but too failed to carry onto the start he got to his innings. He was dismissed after scoring 33 runs.
Trevor Anning picked up four wickets in the innings, hurting the opposition badly.
Devon got off to a fabulous start in their first innings, as openers Rob Holman and Matthew Thompson put together 96 runs for the first wicket partnership. The latter was dismissed after collecting 44 runs, but his partner didn’t miss-out and scored 64 runs.
The lower-order failed to make most of the platform laid by their team’s openers. Wickets kept on falling at regular intervals and the team was restricted to 237 at the end.
Daniel Woods led the fight back for his team, picking up three wickets in the innings.
Cheshire had one more opportunity to make amends of their poor show in the first outing. However, the team failed to post a serious threat to the opposition and were bowled out for 136.
Richard Wilikinson was the top scorer for his team, collecting 32 runs. There was no other batsman in the side to reach thirties, as Cheshire posted 93 runs for victory.
Chris Bradley was the pick of the bowlers for Devon, dismissing six batsmen in the innings.
Devon’s opener Holman played well, scoring 38 runs during the chase, but wickets kept on falling from the other end. The team finally managed to win the match by three wickets after their top-order failed miserably.
Adam Syddall dismissed three batsmen, giving his team some hope of a victory. He would have been disappointed with the result in the end, as anything could have happened of Cheshire batsmen posted at-least 125 for victory.