TEIGNMOUTH & Shaldon made it three wins on the trot going up the B Division table when they won by 33 runs at Chudleigh.
The Teigns are only seven points clear of the bottom two, but that’s better than being in it, which they were before their winning run started, and that is where Chudleigh are too, 37 points away from safety.
Alistair Cliff top scored on 51 for Teignmouth in what seemed a modest total of 147 all out. Ruben Minnaar (28) and Harrison Linnett (30) chipped in either side of Cliffe.
Five Chudleigh bowlers – Mark Russell, Will Heather, Rob Clarke, Kam Singh and Manny Bhullar – grabbed two wickets each.
Ryan Bougourd, who led the side in the absence of skipper Carl Woolnough, was always confident T&S had enough on the board to win the game.
“With the highest score on that ground so far this season being 173, we felt we could defend around 150 with our bowling.”
Chudleigh slumped to 19-4 in reply having run into bother against Minnaar (2-18) and Jawad Shirzad (3-21).
Heather (31) and Tim Sandercombe (29) tried to fight back with assistance from Mark Solway (16). Too much damage had been done by then and Josh Couch (2-17), Bougourd (2-38) and the returning Shirzad knocked over the rail enders.
Matt Heather, the Chudleigh captain, said the batting collapse at the start of the chase was a setback the team ‘never recovered from’.
Meanwhile, Ewan Williams clobbered his maiden century for Bideford in a 93-run win over visiting Ipplepen.
Ollie Hannam got the innings into gear with 64 from 80 balls before partnering Williams and adding 66 more for the third wicket before he was caught and bowled by Pens’ West Indian off-spinner Nathan Forde (3-48).
What followed was some brutal treatment of the Ipplepen bowlers as Bideford clattered along to 291 for six, Williams and Hannam at the fore of this excellence.
Matt Beasant, the Ipplepen skipper, doffed his cap in Williams’ direction
“While I don't think we bowled exceptionally, I absolutely have to applaud Ewan's innings: it was beyond brilliant,” said Beasant.
Ipplepen were all out for 198 in reply as they slid to a second successive defeat and down to seventh in a table of ten.
Marcus Gadie (38) was the only one of the top five to make much progress as Williams and Julian Hayter (3-28) either bogged them down or got them out.
The middle order spared Pens’ blushes by chalking-up some runs at the other end from limpet-like Gadie, who was finally sixth out on 128.
Rider (48) and Tapley (36) showed some stickability, as did skipper Beasant with 24 down the order at nine.
Jody Brown and Eliot Curry had two wickets each from five wickets down onwards.