Cornwall v Devon (3)

The pair clawed their way closer and closer to their target. It was reassuring the way that Bobby Dawson scored a boundary almost at will to keep the side up to a scoring rate which kept creeping up. The home side bowlers were using up their allocations and critically Dawson hit the forty-seventh over for 10 runs. The pair had taken the score to 143, a partnership of 54 of which Dawson had contributed 44 off 58 balls and equally critically Bettiss 6 runs off 26. Twelve balls left seven runs needed, surely game over. Not actually as another twist, Dawson drove the first ball of the penultimate over to Tunnadine who threw it two miles in the air just as his side converged on him. Eleven balls still seven needed. The field moved in for the kill as David Field scurried a leg bye off Harrison’s fourth ball, senior partner Marc Bettiss then drove the next with utmost contempt for three. Last ball blocked by Field. The cocky keeper then reverse swept the first ball of Pearce’s last over for one. Field then cover drove the next four with great style and flourish but no end result. Last ball two still needed, time for a discussion. It is understood that the message from Bettiss was to hit the ……….. ball. Hearts had stopped in the crowd. Big flourish wind up and high back swing and thank heavens he mishit it and it flew through second slip for two, huge excitement and noise from the Devon camp, sheer despondency from the Cornish.

The rollicking the county captain gave the side after the game truly deserved but who will forget his innings, indeed it was a tale of two innings and fortunately from Devon’s point of view Dawson’s just ahead of Lee’s valiant effort in the first innings. A game to live in the memory but the writer now knows the Estuary very well and would like to watch the next game at Truro entirely from the grandstand. Still it was a great game of cricket for those who watched it all.

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