Three quick wickets from captain Charlie Dibble and another half century for Matt Hewer helped Sidmouth 2nd XI to record a third consecutive maximum points victory, this time away at Cornwood.

A warm and sunny day presented Cornwood’s idyllic rural ground at its best and, with a damp wicket, Cornwood won the toss and asked Sidmouth to bat.

Opening pair, Matt Hewer and Dan Powell, welcomed the invitation and put on a smooth 90 for the first wicket. Hewer continued his rich run of form with his third half century in three league matches, scored at almost a run a ball. Powell was more watchful in making 23. Hewer and Powell gave the impression that batting was easier than the reality, as the next few batsmen came and went with an array of careless shots and 90 for 1 quickly became 127 for 5. Cornwood’s young left arm spinner, Matt Petherbridge, was comfortably the pick of their attack and bowled beautifully throughout this period to finish with 3 for 31 from his 9 over spell.

Fortunately for Sidmouth, Anthony Dibble had been pulled away from his revision by Dad Charlie to bat at number six and settled in to make a good 31, batting first with Nick Mansfield, then adding 45 with Fionn Wardrop. When Dibble departed Wardrop carried on, taking advantage of a short pavilion side boundary to finish unbeaten on 41 and help set Cornwood a stiff target of 226 for victory.

With George House injured, off spinner Charlie Miles was asked to take the new ball and responded in style, taking two wickets, sending down five maidens and conceding only 13 runs in a controlled and mature 9 over spell. The highlight of Miles’ bowling was an athletic leap to grab a one handed return catch and remove the dangerous Luke Richardson. Charlie would be the first to admit that he hasn’t always been known for his athleticism and this catch was a fitting tribute to his recent healthy eating and training regime.

The end of Miles’ spell saw Cornwood’s score stand at 55 for 4, after which followed a patient 50 partnership between Dave Tall and Elliott Staddon. The off-spin duo of Chris Collings and Charlie Dibble removed this pair, from which point it was a canter to the line as two2 more wickets for Dibble and a run out preceded Petherbridge being clean bowled by Nick Mansfield to wrap the game up in Sidmouth’s favour.

This was a good bowling and fielding performance from Sidmouth, with the best fielding of the day coming from 14-year-old debutant Brett Lines.

Tomorrow (Saturday) the 2nd team returns to Fortfield after two consecutive away matches, aiming to maintain their unbeaten record against Plympton