The final league game of this shortened season saw the Chargers 1st XI take on Shaldon away whilst the seconds hosted Lustleigh at the Varwell.
Unfortunately, Shaldon's outfield and bowlers run-ups, were not fit for purpose and not a ball was bowled. The firsts finishing their season with 2 losses and a tied fixture, with 3 rained off.
2nds Report by Marcus West
Lustleigh won the toss and decided to bat first. As expected they were out of the blocks quickly and played with controlled aggression throughout. The Chargers' bowling attack stuck to their task well although they had very little luck. They were backed up by plenty of energy in the field. Kirkby West (2-34) picking up the two wickets for the Chargers supported by a sharp stumping from Sam Higgs. Lustleigh ending on 259-2.
In reply Chargers batted their full 35 overs in the face of some accurate bowling, ending on 105-9 with Westy (33), Charlie Towers (16) and Sam Higgs (10) all grafting their way to double figures.
A big thank you to Fred for Umpiring and Annie for scoring.
Marcus reflected; A very enjoyable, if short, league season comes to an end with so many positives. So many young guns given opportunities and taking them with real enthusiasm this season it's been great. Massive thank you to Yabbers for all his hard work throughout.
Aaron Printers Semi Final Report
An Ashburton side containing five Pascoes (six with Annie scoring!) entertained Paignton in the semi-final of the Aaron Printers cup on a sunny morning at The Varwell.
Paignton won the toss, elected to bat and made a steady start against a fine opening new ball spell from Steve Edmonds (4 overs, 0 for 10). He was backed up well by Luke Pascoe (4 overs, 0 for 27). Paignton openers Luke Medlock (52) and Charlie Ward (49) then upped the scoring rate in the middle overs launching several sixes. Matt Coon (3 overs, 2 for 12) picked off Medlock with the score on 88 and kept things tight at one end at the death as Paignton finished their 20 over allocation on 130 for 3.
Ashburton also started steadily with the bat as Jake and Phil Pascoe added 29 before Phil unluckily dragged the ball on to his stumps. This brought skipper Lloyd White to the crease and the pair produced an excellent partnership of 59 in quick time to take the score to 88. Jake Pascoe then holed out for an excellent 50 off just 38 balls. White and Ashley Berry added a further 30 to take Ashes to the brink of victory before White fell for 49 off of just 41 balls. Dan Coles (12no) joined Berry (8no) to see Ashes home comfortably at 132 for 4 with 14 balls to spare.
Reflecting on a brilliant win, skipper White said - "A fantastic day for the club, reaching our first final since 1981. I was super impressed with the control we had with the ball and our running between the wickets was second to none. Stoke will be a tough opponent in the final but I know we will give it our all and do everything we can to win."
Ashburton will take on Stoke Gabriel in the final, on Sunday 6th September, 1330hrs at South Devon Cricket Club.
Ashburton's semi final side:
Back row - Annie Pascoe (scorer), Steve Edmonds, Chris Pascoe, Phil Pascoe, Ashley Berry (wk), Matt Coon, Dan Coles
Front row - Luke Pascoe, Toby Pascoe, Jake Pascoe, Matt Churchill, Lloyd White (capt)