Devon Dumplings v Arden Taverners

A warm and sunny day saw the arrival at Shobrooke Park of a large contingent of Taverners who were gathering from the four quarters for the first game of their five day tour of the West Country. There were threats of thunderstorms and showers from the Met Office later in the day.

The pitch was hard and dry though the outfield was thick but closely cropped.

Having won the toss, Taverners chose to bat in this open-ended declaration game.

They faced an opening duo from Heathcoat’s CC in the shape of Shea Gribben and Dan Pugsley. Both were quick and accurate and runs came only slowly. 

The first wicket fell at 24 and then at 50 first change bowler Felix Joseph had the other opener well caught at square leg inches from the ground by Gribben. This was the first of three very good catches that he took during the afternoon.

A stand of 74 between Phillips and Williams brought some solidity to the Arden innings. However the flighted legspin of Harry Everett induced both batsmen to offer up catches that were neatly taken. Phillips had made 62. Williams was getting into his stride in an effort to increase the run rate. Lacey fell to a fine running catch at deep midwicket by Joseph off Berman’s bowling but then Bamford came in at 184-5 and they pushed the total up to 251 from 52 overs.

The latter part of the innings was notable for the contribution of two young Dumplings, Jack James and Ethan Benton who both bowled tidily in the face of the end-of-innings onslaught from two well-set batsmen.

Stand-in Keeper Harry Kandampully had done a fine job behind the stumps dealing with some late swing down the legside and a generous interpretation of the Law on wides.

The two openers had bowled 16 overs for 42 runs and it was an all-round very good performance by Dumplings in the field.

After their slow start Arden had upped the scoring rate and set a suitably challenging target.

Dumplings openers Kiran Sakhamuri and John James found runs as hard to come by as Arden had in the face of tight bowling. The first wicket fell at 37 in the twelfth over. However, once Kandampully gauged  the pace of the pitch, the scoreboard soon started to tick over and he and James added 99 in 14 overs. Kandampully went for 53, but Everett maintained the pace with a sprightly 29 and Joseph then replaced him with the score on 189 from 35 overs. Jon James had gone previously for 68 from 64 balls.

Joseph and Gribben were scoring freely and the last 66 runs needed for victory came from only 8 overs. Joseph’s 56 from 36 balls included some classic wristy driving that saw the ball race to the boundary.

The bat had been dominant but the bowlers had never really let the scoring get completely out of control. Overall a finely-balanced game between two good sides.

The weather remained fine with no hint of rain or lightning, happily. A long day in the field for both teams, and Arden at the beginning of a five day tour around Devon to look forward to during the rest of the week.                                                                                                         PMB