DIVISION THREE EAST

St Minver v Saltash

Saltash are still searching for their first win of the sea-son following another game they will feel they should have won.

In difficult conditions with a interruptions for heavy showers and a strong wind Saltash bowled and fielded well to restrict St Minver to 153 for eight with the overs reduced by two to 46.

Paceman Ian Smith caused a lot of problems with some aggressive bowling and after leaving three lifters Pooley tried a hook shot but top-edged to Sam Farmer at square leg.

Richie Durndell yet again proved very difficult to get away and passed the outside edge on a number of occasions and deservedly claimed a wicket with a return catch to dismiss the youngest member of the Hawken family playing, who looks a fine all round prospect.

Tom Shrewsbury and skipper Rob Hawken put together a useful partnership with opposing skipper Ross Braund finally making the breakthrough having Hawken caught behind for 25.

Braund took a good catch to earn Mark Partington-Smith the wicket of Shrewsbury just after he had completed his 50. Luke Marshall made a very useful 34 including three sixes to boost the total, while the returning Ian Smith proved too quick for some of the tail, clean bowling Dunkley and Keast for ducks as the St Minver innings closed on 153 for eight.

With regular opener Nick Carpenter away on holiday Mark Hutchings and Durndell opened and never really looked in trouble as they negotiated the array of young quick bowlers in the St Minver team who all bowled with plenty of pace but lacked consistency and tended to bowl a little short.

The introduction of the two spinners Rob Hawken and Tom Shrewsbury completely changed the course of the match as Saltash collapsed from 60 for no wicket to 69 for six in the course of ten overs.

The loss of wickets was a major problem, but the fact that they had also hardly added a run again meant the lower order were asked to do too much.

Yet again most of the

dismissals were down to poor execution with Durndell, Braund and Dhayal all out to poor shots trying to attack, while Adam Stevenson perhaps was a little unlucky fending off a sharp lifter that Hawken caught diving one handed to his left.

Hutchings, after looking very comfortable against the quicks, got bogged down against the slower bowlers before frustration got the better of him and it looked game over at that point.

However, Ian Stevenson looked back to his old self seeing off the spinners before attacking the returning quick bowlers.

Sam Farmer and Ian Smith gave brief support but it was the partnership with Jonny Trembath that just gave Saltash a glimmer of hope and had St Minver a little worried especially after Stevenson hit Ash for three consecutive boundaries.

It was a big ask though and Trembath was eventually caught for 19 – and with 18 needed off the last over this proved too much, especially after Stevenson took a nasty blow to the knee cap on the first ball, which restricted his movement after a lengthy delay... but he and Mark Smith decided to bat the rest of the over out to deny St Minver the extra bowling point.

There were some positives to take from this game, but the batting order will need to be thought about as Saltash failed for the second week running to chase down a very gettable total, losing momentum in the middle of the innings when well set with the slow bowlers again causing all the problems... which has been the story of the season so far.

St Minver

R Pooley ct Farmer b I Smith 0

T Shrewsbury ct Braund b P'ton-Smith 54

B Hawken ct and b Durndell 13

R Hawken* ct Trembath b Braund 25

S Hawken b Braund 0

L Marshall ct Farmer b Braund 34

C Jeffries not out 5

C Dunkley+ b I Smith 0

R Klest b I Smith 0

A Ash not out 3

Extras 19

Total (8 wkts) 153

Bowling: I Smith 12-3-40-3, R Durndell 12-7-16-1, R Braund 11-1-41-3, M Partington-Smith 5-0-30-1, A Stevenson 6-0-23-0.

Saltash

R Durndell ct Marshall b R Hawken 21

M Hutchings ct Dunkley b R Hawken 28

R Braund* ct S Hawken b R Hawken 1

J Hemmings b R Hawken 1

N Dhayal ct Klest b Shrewsbury 0

A Stevenson ct R Hawken b S'bury 0

I Stevenson not out 28

S Farmer ct Marshall b Ash 7

I Smith b Ash 8

J Trembath ct Shrewsbury b Klest 19

M Partington-Smith not out 1

Extras 20

Total (9 wkts) 137

Bowling: Bowling: R Klest 8-0-29-1, C Jeffries 5-0-17-0, L Marshall 3-0-8-0, B Hawken 8-1-24-0, R Hawken 12-6-11-4, T Shrewsbury 6-1-11-2, A Ash 4-0-30-2.