Sidmouth secured a valuable victory at Plymouth to keep up their title hopes in a thrilling Premier Division season in the Tolchards Devon Cricket League.

Sitting fourth in the table, Sidmouth are 26 points behind the leaders from North Devon and welcome second-placed Sandford on the weekend.

Batting first at Plymouth, Isaac Thomas once again provided the platform for a strong batting display, as he put together a solid score of 61. While Jash Patidar (11) and Jamie Baird (13) fell relatively cheaply, Luke Bess (37) and Codi Yusuf (36) provided steadying contributions.

It was then over to Dylan Hurst for a flamboyant 79 from 56 balls and Sidmouth set their hosts a very competitive total of 285/9.

Plymouth responded with a brilliant century from Joe Hagan-Burt and Sidmouth were in trouble when the home side raced to 136/1. Plymouth remained in an excellent position on 200/2 before Yusuf took the crucial wicket of Hagan-Burt, Baird snaffling the catch.

The floodgates subsequently opened and Plymouth lost their final seven wickets for just 50 more runs, falling 35 short of the Sidmouth target. Taylor Ingham-Hill was the top bowler, finishing with figures of 4/41 from his 10 overs.

Ottery slipped to a six-wicket defeat at Alphington and Countess Wear in C Division East. Rhys Norman (29) and Sam O’Nyons (24) made the largest contributions, as Ottery stuttered to 146 all out.

Matthew Jeacock made a brilliant start with the ball, dismissing the Alphington openers for just one run but an excellent unbeaten 83 from James Bovey proved enough to condemn Ottery to defeat.

In the same division, Sidmouth 2nds bowled beautifully to beat Upottery by seven wickets. Charlie Miles took 3/15, as Upottery struggled to 118/9. Charles Brock (30), Charlie Gaywood (29), Byron Knowles (21) and Louis Adey (27 no) all played nicely as Sidmouth comfortably secured the win.

In E Division East, Sidmouth 3rds defeated Ottery 2nds by 34 runs in an entertaining local derby. David Watkins (64) helped take Sidmouth to 203/9 and Will Goodall took four wickets, as Ottery fell short.