Cricket- County Four (East)
Tideford v Veryan
Although the conditions at the start of play may well have favoured the bowling side Dave Lockett decided, with the batting he had at his disposal Tideford would have first knock.
A Tregunna and M Johns opened the bowling for Veryan, Tregunna maintaining an excellent line and length and Johns made the most of the overcast conditions by swinging it away from the right-handers. At 68 for 3 after each had completed 10 overs, the game was fairly balanced. With the first ball after the drinks interval producing another wicket (how many times has that happened?) Tideford knew they had a fight on their hands. At 83 for 4 after 24.1 overs the scales seemed to be tipping towards Veryan's favour.
Their hold on the game loosened as Mark Lister and Mark Lindfield consolidated Tideford's position and began to take advantage over the weaker first and second change bowlers. By the 4Oth over the pair had put on 57 for the 4th wicket. What followed was carnage as Mark Lindfield in particular ravaged the weakened attack with some mighty blows supported by the ever enthusiastic Mark Lister who put on a memorable 156 unbroken stand.
Lindfield scored his maiden century for Tideford in the last over and Lister also remained undefeated on 47. The final eight overs went for a staggering 99 runs to leave Veryan chasing a target of 236 to maintain their 100% start to the season. M Johns bowled very well without much luck early on but credit must be given to A Tregunna who bowled superbly well throughout and finished with excellent figures of 2 for 33 off his allocated 16 overs.
As in all the previous games this season the opening pair of Dave Lockett and Steve Osborne for Tideford were too much for the opposition. After 20 overs they decimated the Veryan batting, leaving them stunned at 26 for 7. An unforced run out and some excellent catches in the field hastened their downfall. A Luiten's instinctive reactions at short fine leg and A Lockett's athletic capture at mid-on running backwards worthy of mention.
Mindful of the need to allow other bowlers the need for overs in the middle both Lockett and Osborne were removed from the attack. If the batsmen that remained imagined it would be any easier they were sadly mistaken as Sandy Bradbeer and Will Geach mopped up the last 3 wickets in 3.3 overs for 5 runs.
This was another emphatic win for Tideford by 199 runs who are looking ominously powerful in all four departments of cricket - batting, bowling, fielding and confidence!
Scores - Tideford 236-4 (W Geach 27, G Snowdon 37, M Lindfield 100 M Lister 47; A Tregunna 2-33, M Johns 1-64, M Matthews 1-60). Veryan 37 (A Tregunna 10; D Lockett 3-13, S Osborne 3-16, S Bradbeer 2-5, W Geach 1-0).
Tideford (20 pts) bt Veryan (two) by 199 runs.