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Posted:
Monday 9th August 2010
Source: Stephen Birley
Skipper Ross Acton led superbly as Bradninch
booked their first ever Final berth in the Devon
Senior Cup, beating Cornwood, on their own
patch.
What’s more, after a number of visits to
Cornwood without a sniff of success, the 33 run
victory was therefore all the sweeter!
Mind you, the game was not always a comfortable
procession to victory and it needed a battling
partnership between Haydn Murray and Dan hardy
to dig the side out of the mire and post a score
sufficient for the bowlers to get their teeth
into!
Batting first Eliot Acton was on his way back to
the Pavilion before the end of the first over
and after eleven overs Tim Piper and Gary
Chappell had joined him for the sum total of 14
runs!
This left Aussie Haydn Murray and Durham
University student Dan Hardy, tasked with
innings repair work.
It was not much better after 20 overs with the
score on 40-3 - the half-way mark of the
innings! The next eight overs saw the run rate
increased - with 39 runs put on to leave the
score at 79-3 odd 28, but then both Murray and
Hardy opened their shoulders and set about the
home attack. It was scintillating stuff as one's
were turned into two’s, two’s were raced down as
three’s and there was plenty of boundary
spanking in between!
When the final ball had been bowled to see an
end to the 40 overs, the score had reached a
healthy 188-8.
Murray top-scored with 91, Hardy weighed in with
63 and the bowlers had something to chew on
after tea.
That fourth-wicket partnership between Murray
and Hardy had been responsible for 156 of the
runs and that seemed to turn the tide in favour
of the visitors.
Cornwood’s first wicket fell at 26, their second
went down at 51 but at 117-3 they would still
have fancied it. However this was when skipper
Ross Acton earned his corn with some astute
bowling changes and with the fielding out of the
top drawer the odds began to change
dramatically.
Chappell made up for his failure with the bat
with a haul of three wickets, Murray completed
an outstanding - and certainly match-winning -
individual effort with a brace and there were
single wickets for the skipper, his cousin Eliot
Acton and the latter’s father, Chris Acton -
yes, very much Acton action!
Well before the conclusion the home side were
beaten and the reply closed on 155-9 leaving
Bradninch winners by 33 runs and booking
transport for the Final which is to be held on
August 28.
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