Devon Cricket League F Division West

Dartington & Totnes II 186 for nine,

Paignton III 138 for nine,

D&T win by 48 runs

Although D&T won comfortably in the end, they were made to work hard by a Paignton unit that reduced them to 114 for eight before Glenn Colegate’s 36 not out helped his side to reach a defendable total.

Blessed with a plethora of Colegates, D&T elected to bat, opening with Gavin and Neil Colegate. The brothers got off to a good start against Paignton’s youthful opening attack, putting on 51 in 10 overs for the first wicket.

The turning point came when Paignton introduced seasoned campaigner Mike Pedley into the attack. Pedley bowled Neil for 17 and Gavin for 25 in his second over.

Pedley (three for seven in four overs) then made it a hat-trick of Colegates by inducing Jono Colegate to hit a catch straight to mid-on.

D&T were relieved when Pedley came out of the attack, but did not fare much better against the other bowlers.

Tom Petherick looked in good touch and stopped the rot temporarily with Keith Hodgins, until he was caught off Williams for 14 and then Hodgins was run out for eight. Woodcock bowled James Hartridge for one and trapped Joe Parker lbw for 10.

D&T were struggling on 114 for eight when Woodcock (three for 23) trapped Phil Power lbw, with 14 overs still remaining.

Cometh the man cometh the hour – Glenn Colegate worked his magic, adding 46 with Steve Mudge for the ninth wicket. Nudger Mudge played another useful innings before being caught for 18.

Last man Mick Rusling joined Glenn with seven overs remaining and played with discipline, leaving the run scoring to Glenn. Runs accumulated, boosted by a generous helping of extras – 53 in total. Glenn finished strongly, scoring eleven off the final over.

After a sumptuous tea, Paignton got off to a decent start, putting 34 runs on the board before Joe Parker struck with two wickets in successive balls.

First, he had the experienced Gorman caught behind by keeper Neil Colegate for 10 and then new man George Wood-cock caught by Gavin Colegate.

Parker (two for 18) bowled a fine spell and tied the batsman down. He was unlucky not to take further wickets as two catches went down off his bowling.

Opening bat Ali Tehrani was showing some classy touches and was looking good until he was bowled by an unplayable delivery from Mick Rusling. Rusling (three for 15) is currently in a rich vein of form and proceeded to catch McKee off his own bowling and then trap Pedley lbw for four, as Paignton were reduced to 82 for five, needing 105 to win from 15 overs, which seemed to be a tall order.

However, Paignton’s experienced skipper Trevor Massey was still there and was proving difficult to dislodge. Massey anchored the Paignton innings, punishing any wayward delivery. Phil Power missed a sharp chance off his own bowling but then had Ollie Woodcock caught behind for four.

Jono Colegate, making a rare appearance, picked up two wickets with his pacy spin, bowling Trevor Mas-sey for 44 and then Charlotte Massey, caught and bowled. Jono then caught Williams for eight off brother Glenn’s bowling, but Paignton’s last pair, Brandon Pedley and Katie Harman, had fun putting on 24 runs and D&T were unable to prise them out, despite bringing back speedster Steve Mudge for the final over.

After a disappointing start to the season, the second XI have now won three games out of four, although a tough fixture awaits next Saturday at Plymouth.