OPENER Justin Osborne hit an unbeaten 85 to steer Dartington & Totnes to a five-wicket win over visiting Babbacombe.

Babbacombe, one of the promotion contenders in the D Division West, were all-out for 133 in the 39th over of a 45-over game.

Opener Marcus Thompson made 41 and batted all the way through until he was seventh out with the score on 111.

Nathan Snape made 25 and tail-ender Dom Passmore added 22 (mostly in boundaries) in a final flourish.

Chris O’Reilly, Jono Lloyd and Osborne had two wickets each in a running total of 97 for seven. Chris Cook (3-17) spun out the tail-enders.

The Dartington & Totnes chase was not without problems as it sat at 37 for five following a going-over from Josh Thompson (1-25) and in particular veteran Dave Stubbs (3-23).

That was as good as it got for Babbacombe as Osborne and Cook (25) put on 94 to put the game out of reach.

By the time Cook was dismissed the target was three to win. Game over.

Victory has lifted D&T 27 points clear of the bottom two in the D Division West. Babbacombe drop back from third to fourth.

Dartington & Totnes all-rounder Chris Cook, who took three wickets and scored match-winning runs in the victory over Babbacombe
(Conrad Sutcliffe)

Elsewhere, in C Division West, Ivybridge 2nd XI were saved from further punishment when rain stopped play in their game against Hatherleigh 2nd XI.

The Bridge were 89-7 at the time after a going-over from Tom Carroll (2-20), Charlie Bingham (2-10) and Luke Westacott (2-21).

Paul Johnson (27) and Chris Greenhouse (20) put on 34 for the fifth wicket in the only stand of note.

Meanwhile, Ashburton’s topsy-turvy season continued when Kingsbridge hammered them by 143 runs at the Butts.

The Ashes’ highs have included topping 250 against Kingsbridge first time round, and South Devon, while the lows are all-out scores of 54 against Ivybridge – and now 70 against Kingsbridge.

Opener Jack Brown played the anchorman role for Kingsbridge with 103 in a total of 213 for eight.

Brown put on 167 for the first wicket with James Fletcher (41) and was on 99not out when the first wicket fell.

Neil Edmonds, a former Kingsbridge player, dismissed Brown at 171 and went on to claim three for 32. Alex Browne finished unbeaten on 22.

Matt Coon (3-16) and Chris Yeo (2-32) were Ashburton’s other wicket takers.

Lloyd White (26), 21 extras and Ryan May (10) were the only double-figure contributions to Ashburton’s meagre total. Five batters did not manage a run between them!

The bulk of the damage was done by Bhanu De Silva (4-16) and Neal Peach (4-22) as the last six wickets fell for just six runs.