Whimple won their C Division East match at Budleigh Salterton 2nds, beating the home side by 102 runs.

It was the Whimple late middle order batsmen who set up the win with skipper Ben Silk, batting at six, top scoring with 45 while number seven Will Bardot scored 32 and number eight Devon Nightingale chipped in with an unbeaten 26 as Whimple recovered from 91-5 to reach an all out total of 218.

Early wickets for opening seamers Stephen Hathaway and Neil Maud hit the Budleigh reply and they were eventually bundled out for 116 in just 28 overs. All six Whimple bowlers claimed at least one wicket with Cameron Kidd taking top honours with his return of 3-38 from six overs.

The other figures were; Devon Nightingale 2-4 from three), Sam Jefferson (2-11 from five), Matt Brown (1-16 from three), Neil Maud (1-19 from five) and Stephen Hathaway (1-24 from six).

Whimple skipper Ben Silk was delighted with the success, one he felt they certainly needed to secure.

He said: “We were in a spot of bother early in our innings but much of that was down to a damp – actually wet in places – wicket at Budleigh. They had not been able to cover it and so it was hit by that Friday night early Saturday morning rain.”

He continued: “But we managed to dig in and its nice for middle and lower order to contribute with the bat at times and that’s what happened. I was very pleased with 218 on the board at tea and felt very confident that we’d go on and win the game and so it turned out.”

Silk had high praise for one of his bowlers. He said: “Sam Jefferson is only 15, and he is a small lad, but he packs a punch with his seam bowling and I was really pleased for him that he was able to turn in such a polished show.”

The win lifts Whimple some 24 points clear of third bottom Feniton. On Saturday they host Exeter. Skipper Silk says: “It’s the silly season what with holidays and we also have four lads who have children under one which always causes an issue in terms of the Dads taking a whole Saturday afternoon off! We had 28 players for the two XIs last Saturday, but nothing near that figure this coming Saturday. However, it is what it is and we go into the next two home games targeting nothing other than 40 points.”