Devon Cricket League 1st XI B Division

Alphington 186 all out, Ivybridge 247-8

Ivybridge 1st XI (20 points) beat Alphington 1st XI (eight points) by 61 runs

Ivybridge Cricket Club's overseas player Jeewan de Silva got his and Ivybridge's season in the B Division of the Devon Cricket League off to a flyer with an unbeaten 117 as his side crushed Alphington with a 61-run victory.

Ivybridge, who took the maximum 20 points from their visit to Alphington, also saw contributions from Josh Zimmerman (57) and 24 from all-rounder Kelvin Trent.

Trent also took a more than handy 3-15 to help restrict Alphington to 186 all out.

There was no doubting the star of the show, however, as de Silva not only scored the only ton in the 1st XI B division, he also scored it an impressive strike rate, notching 13 fours and two sixes in his magnificent 87-ball knock.

Ivybridge will be hoping it will be more of the same from their prized Sri Lankan for the rest of the season, with their next fixture coming at home to Tavistock.

Tavistock also got off to a great start, securing 20 points themselves while racking up 297-7.

Remarkably, their top scorer in the match was the unusual extras, after the luckless Barnstaple and Pilton sent down 71 of them, eclipsing Manning's effort of 66.

Their margin of victory turned out to be a colossal 136 runs, so Ivybridge will expect a tough challenge from the visitors.

The club's 2nd XI enjoyed a less fruitful start to their season, sliding to a 30-run defeat at home to Yelverton.

Ivybridge picked up only seven points, and were always struggling to reach the target of 188 which Yelverton set them.

Positives came from Chris Greenhouse, who returned excellent figures of 4-17, and Des Solomon, who top scored for Ivy with 43 runs.