Sidmouth slipped to their first defeat of the season, going down to a six wicket defeat at the hands of Exeter at their County ground home.

Once again skipper Will Murray won the toss and, given the near perfect conditions and what looked a very flat track full of runs, opted to bat first.

Liam Lewis and Matt Cook gave the side the customary excellent start with 47 on the board in good time when Cooke mistimed a pull shot to depart for 21.

Lewis continued to stay on top of the Exeter bowling but as has been the side’s nemesis in the past month, the middle order fell away badly.

The run rate slowed considerably and, with a dozen overs remaining the County ground score board showed the innings labouring on 168-3.

Lewis fell for another sick knock of 80, losing his wicket just before the end of the final power play.

Luke Bess joined brother Josh at the crease and utilised the power play well and the innings closed on a total of 263-6 which did appear to be just below par for the conditions and batting surface. Josh Bess made 74 and brother Luke a swift 47.

The run chase began without any panic as the home side adopted a safety-first approach as they sought the five runs per over required.

The Sidmouth bowling was not at its usual intensity, with the exception of a fine opening spell from Scott Barlow and a good shift from Charlie Miles.

What was seriously beginning to hamper the Sidmouth cause was the mounting number of extras!

There was hope when Charlie Miles dismissed both openers, but that was about as good as it got as catches were dropped and the wide’s count increased alarming as Exeter eased to a six wicket success with one over to spare.

Skipper Will Murray was very honest at stumps when he said: “Fundamentally we did not score enough runs. Nor did we bowl well enough to defend the total we had. On the whole I think we were complacent and expectant. It was an incredibly disappointing performance, but we win as a team and lose as a team. Exeter definitely out played us on the day and we need to bounce back immediately as the forth coming weekend – in terms of potential point swinging – could be the biggest of the year so far. First in the league plays second and third plays fourth.”