ABOVE:
The victorious Braunton team. Below: Man of the match Andy
Paddison.
EXMOUTH'S
dreams of a league and cup double came crashing around their
ears when they slumped to a five-wicket defeat against Braunton
in the final of the Devon KO Cup.
Exmouth's total of 155 for nine in 40 overs at Paignton
always looked below par and so it turned out as Braunton
knocked off the runs with more than three overs to spare.
Lapses in the field and bowling too many four balls
cost them dear as Andy Paddison (47) and Alex Wallace guided
Braunton to a comfortable win.
Paddison was later named Man of the Match, not that
he had much competition with either bat or ball.
Exmouth captain Tom Wright perished early when he
was caught one-handed by a diving Mark Lathwell, but Ben
Thompson (35) and Matt Wood (39) pushed the score along
to 88 without further mishap.
Wood was first to go, Lathwell bowling him when he
tried to drive, then Thompson went seven runs later to a
smart piece of glovework by stumper Ian Roberts.
After that it was mainly bits and pieces with David
Court making 19, James Kavanagh 12 and Liam Lewis 14 not
out.
Braunton's Deesham Walpitagamage came on at the end
and picked up three cheap wickets as his pace proved too
much for the Exmouth tail-enders to cope with.
Exmouth, already assured of promotion from the A
Division and out in front ahead of Braunton in the race
for the title, got a dream start when Mark Woodman bowled
Iain Bond then David Court knocked over James Windsor with
only eight on the board.
Braunton consolidated with Paddison and Lathwell
putting on 56 for the third wicket and the longer they stayed
together the better it looked for the Kelseymen.
Lathwell was on 19 when he chose to play no shot
to Wood's first-ball loosener, and was astonished to see
the ball cut back and hit his off-stump.
Another wicket then might have been crucial - especially
if it had been Paddison who had a life when a lofted shot
over mid-wicket just cleared the advancing Thompson five
yards inside the boundary.
When Wood cajoled Paddison into patting a catch to
Kavanagh at mid-on, Braunton were 102 for four and the game
back in the melting pot again.
But Wallace, after a slow start, played his shots
and with Exmouth's bowling and fielding becoming more ragged
the outcome was a formality long before the end.
It was almost fitting that the winning runs came
courtesy of a no-ball call against Thompson for the third
short-pitched delivery he sent down to Mike Paine (17no)
in the same over.
Exmouth 155-9 (M Wood 39, B Thompson 35; D Walpitagamage
3-16, M Mitchell 2-23), Braunton 156-5 (A Paddison 47, A
Wallace 35no; M Wood 3-29). Braunton bt Exmouth by 5 wkts.