Devon Cricket League

1st XI A division

Cornwood 234-9,

Bradninch 233-5

Cornwood (17 points) beat Bradninch (nine) by one wicket

Cornwood came out on top of a game that really ebbed and flowed on the fortune stakes on Saturday.

It took a masterful knock of 57 not out by Elliott Staddon to see the Corns over the finish line for a much-needed victory.

When Cornwood were seven wickets down with only 144 runs on the board, there weren't many who were backing them to win, but win they did by the narrowest of margins.

A majestic eighth-wicket partnership of 89 between Staddon and Matt Butterworth (24) got Cornwood to within one run of victory, before Butterworth top edged a delivery and was caught.

The very next ball saw kiwi Craig James caught at mid on attempting to heave a full toss over the top.

This brought last man Adam Goodliffe to the crease with Will Squire on a hat-trick.

With an aggressive "around the bat" field he fended out the first ball.

The second ball, disappointingly for Bradninch, was a wide, giving Cornwood the victory in the tightest of circumstances.

The big crowd at Oak Park were treated to a real nail-biter.

Earlier in the innings keeper/batsman Mark Horwell had done his best to hold things together in the early batting order.

While seeing regular wickets falling around him, he kept his composure in his customary style eased himself to an important 50 before falling to Brad­ninch's most successful bowler on the day, Will Squire, who finished with superb figures of 4-36.

Skipper Jason Hall was thrilled with the result but disappointed at how Cornwood had allowed Bradninch to post a target of 233 on the board.

There is still room for improvement in terms of fielding and bowling performances and with a fixture at table-topping Brixham next Saturday, little time for the players to get back to their normal levels of sharpness.