Devon v Shropshire: Minor Counties Championship – Match Recap
Devon overcame Shropshire by four wickets in a match of the Minor Counties Championship at the Maer Ground, Exmouth in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.
The hosts required 182 runs for victory on the final day’s play, which they achieved losing six wickets in the end.
Earlier, Shropshire’s skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Christopher-Paul-Murtagh-c50955 opted to bat first after winning the toss. The pitch was good for batting, but was expected to deteriorate with the passage of time.
Shropshire’s start was a good one, despite losing opening batsman Jonathan Whitney early. He got out after adding just 6 runs to the total.
However, Ryan Lockley and Murtagh batted exceptionally well, guiding their side into a very good position. They put together 123 runs for the second wicket partnership before both got out on consecutive deliveries.
Lockley missed out on a half-century by 4 runs, collecting 46 runs in his outing whereas the team’s skipper ended up with 66 runs.
There were a couple of solid contributions after that, as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Richard-Kenneth-Oliver-c85165 and wicketkeeper batsman Simon Gregory collected 58 and 45 in their respective outings. The team was all out for 283 runs in the first innings.
Devon’s Chris Bradley bowled well, picking up 5 wickets in the innings.
In reply, the hosts got off to a fantastic start, as their openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/James-Burke-c1640 put together a sensational stand of 115 runs. Both scored half-centuries and were dismissed for 51 and 64 respectively.
There was a collapse in the innings after the downfall of the openers. However, wicketkeeper batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Matthew-James-Thompson-c75196 scored an unbeaten 49 runs, guiding the total to 259 in the end.
Shropshire’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Jonathan-David-Whitney-c69106 picked up 4 wickets in the innings, giving his side a first innings lead of 24 runs.
However, the visitors failed to carry on with the momentum and failed miserably in their second innings. The entire team was sent back to the hut for 157 runs and the highest score of the innings came from wicketkeeper batsman Gregory. He ended up with 37
runs, but there was no other player in the team to reach thirties.
Devon’s Bradley was once again excellent with the ball. He picked up 7 wickets this time around, adding his overall tally to 12 in the match.
The hosts had to chase 182 runs for victory and were given a decent start by openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Robin-James-Boyd-Moss-c86323 Woodman and James Burke. They collected 32 runs at the top of the order before the former got dismissed for 25 runs.
A 92-run stand for the second wicket between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Robert-Ian-Dawson-c85905 and Burke took the game away from the opposition. The latter played exceptionally, collecting 78 runs for his side.
There was a little collapse towards the end of the innings, but Devon managed to win the match by 4 wickets in the end.
Shropshire’s Richard Oliver took 3 wickets in the innings, but the effort went in vain.
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