Devon Cricket League 1st XI C division west
Whitchurch Wayfarers 175 all out,
Kingsbridge 264-6;
Whitchurch (seven points) lost to Kingsbridge (20)
by 89 runs
Kingsbridge won the toss and elected to bat on a grassy moorland wicket.
Three enforced changes saw Harry Badale and James Ford make their first team debuts and Dan Hardy turn out in Kingsbridge colours on his return from Australia.
The loss of an early wicket with the score on 13 didn't stop Westlake punishing the bad ball and he was joined by Ford, who also took a liking to the short delivery.
Together the pair set about building a solid foundation and batted past drinks until Ford eventually went for 43 with the score on 132. Westlake was past 50 and had his sights set on his first ton of the season.
Shephard and Browne came and went with cameos that kept the board ticking along nicely before Westlake completed a chanceless and well deserved century, hitting 17 fours and a six until he miscued one on 104 to be caught out.
The score was past 200 and it was left to Will Pike with a hard hitting 39 and Dan Hardy (20 not out) to take Kings to an imposing total of 264 for 6.
Kingsbridge's bowlers immediately ensured Whitchurch got behind the run rate but their catching was not up to the standard of the previous few weeks.
However, the ground fielding produced a series of run outs as wickets fell at regular intervals. Rosewarne, De Silva and Shephard all chipped in with two each as Whitchurch were bowled out for 175 leaving Kingsbridge with maximum points.
The match ball was sponsored by David Lawrence.
Devon Cricket League 2nd XI B division west
Kingsbridge 209-5,
Abbotskerswell 207-9;
Kingsbridge (18 points) beat Abbotskerswell (seven) by five wickets
Kings fielded first and it looked a totally different side to last week, with the fielding great and the team spirit back.
Hammett and Edmonds opened the bowling and bowled tightly.
In Edmonds first over he should have had a wicket caught behind but four balls later he trapped the batsman LBW. Keeping Abbots' batsmen quiet and giving them no easy runs, the pressure told and a mix-up with a run saw young George Holland sharp to the ball to get his throw in and run out their best batsman.
After Edmonds' first four overs, Inch replaced him and bowled well even without taking a wicket, sending down nine overs and conceding just 26 runs. Hammett was wicketless in his first five overs so, needing him to bowl up the hill later on in the game, he was replaced by young Olly Robinson. He also bowled well but was wicketless, taking 0-30 from sewven overs.
Holland replaced Olly down the hill and what a change it was. He struck early, with the batsmen having no idea which way the ball was spinning, to pikc up three wickets for 31 runs.
Edmonds finished his five spare overs to finish with 2-45 off nine and Hammett finished up 1-45 from nine. In the last over Kings could have picked up an extra point but there was a drop in the deep, leaving three bowling points earned.
All in all, a great performance in the field had restricted second in the league Abbotskerswell to 207-9.
In reply John Hardy, back in the team after a two-week break, and James Ellis opened the batting and scored runs quickly.
Both looked good, smashing the Abbots bowlers everywhere. Fours came easily to the pair as they brought up a 51 partnership until Ellis fell on 17.
In came man-of-the-match Steve Inch. He started timing the ball straight away, but Hardy fell in the 13th over with a well earned 39.
Holland came and went, scoring 12, and with the score at 118-3 in came Hammett to bat with Inch.
Both these players scored well, Inch bringing up his 50 with a lovely shot for four. Scoring runs was easy until the 35th over when Inch was clean bowled for 70, ending a great 61 partnership with Hammett. This brought the score to 179-4, before fell a few overs later for 21.
Clark and Edmonds steadied the ship and took Kings home to win by five wickets, picking up 18 points and pushing Kings 23 points clear of Plymouth in the table.
If Kings seconds can keep on playing as they have been recently, they stand a chance of finishing in the top four as sides in mid-table are struggling to pick up any decent points and Kings are only 31 points behind Cornwood thirds and still have mid-table teams to play.
Even a mid-table finish would represent a great achievement by the team given they didn't have the greatest of starts to the season and the message from the club is for the boys to push on and keep their form going.