Ashburton first team entertained Shaldon and skipper Ash Berry won the toss and asked the visitors to have a bat.
Ruben Minnaar hit the first ball of the innings for 4 and blazed away to his 50 inside the first 7 overs. However a change to spin from both ends saw runs dry up as Matt Churchill (9 overs, 2 for 30) and Chris Yeo (9 overs, 1 for 24) both bowled with excellent control and some well set fields starved him of the strike. When Churchill dismissed Minnaar with the final ball before drinks for a fine 79 off just 64 balls Shaldon were 102 for 3. Wickets then tumbled as Will Coon (9 overs, 2 for 31) and Jake Pascoe (5 overs, 1 for 25) reduced Shaldon to 145 for 7. Some late hitting from Carl Woolnough (34) took Shaldon up to a final total of 188 before Arun Karthick (8 overs, 2 for 43) wrapped up the innings.
Woolnough then picked up 2 early wickets to reduce Ashburton to 33 for 2, before Berry (33) and Dan Coles (45) steadied the ship with a stand of 40. Wickets fell at regular intervals but Coles stood firm and the runs continued to flow and with 11 overs left they were well placed at 144 for 5. The turning point was the re-introduction of Woolnough into the attack as he dismissed Coles and ran through the tail to finish with fine figures of 8.1 overs, 6 for 28 as Ashes were dismissed for 154 with nearly 6 overs remaining.
After the game skipper Berry said "Having got off to a flyer the boys did very well to reel Shaldon back in and restrict them to under 200. We were one good partnership away really so fell a bit short. Some lessons to be learned, but to be second after month one is a good start.".
Dan Coles who top scored with 45 for Ashburton first team
Ashburton 2nds travelled to play Plympton 2nds and after winning the toss inserted the hosts on a wicket that proved to very lively.
At halfway Plympton were 77 for 6, Hamilton's gritty 79 and a late onslaught of 38 from number 11 Oliver McDonnell taking the total up to 192 all out in the final of the 40 overs. There were wickets each for Robin Lambert, Greg Robinson, Toby Pascoe and Harvey Field as well as single wickets for Jerry Crouch and Freddie Harvey.
In reply Ashes got off to a good start and were 38 without loss after 6 overs before 3 quick wickets fell. Alan Churchill (41) and Lambert (18) rebuilt the innings and Ashes need 45 ton win off the final 11 overs. However some hostile bowling on a lively wicket saw the hosts fall short by 26 runs as they finished on 164 for 9 after their 40 overs.
After the game skipper Nick Yabsley said "All in all a brave effort and another 9 points in the bag.".