An incredible finish gave Sidmouth a wonderfully dramatic win in the Premier Division, while Ottery turned on the bowling style to secure their own valuable victory.

Sidmouth opted to bat first against Bovey Tracey and the spectators were treated to a fluent 81 from skipper Luke Bess. Isaac Thomas (46), Henry Armstrong (45) and an unbeaten 32 from Charlie Miles in the closing stages of the innings took Sidmouth to a powerful 278/8.

Bovey made a solid start to their reply, Edward Foreman making 23 and Jake Pascoe 23 before Charlie Miles claimed both their wickets. Skipper Lewis Hammett also set about making a patient 41 from 70 balls.

The real Bovey star, however, was number four Munir Kakar, who looked to have taken the game away from Sidmouth with his sparkling 121 from 104 balls. At 258/5, Bovey were 20 shy of their target with plenty of wickets in hand.

That equation turned to four runs needed in the final over with four wickets in hand. Dylan Hurst limited the first three balls to one run, then came a run out, then a wicket and, unbelievably, another with the final ball.

Captain Bess told the DCL website: “Bovey should have cruised that from the position they were in. We stuck in as much as we could and took the game deep.

“We kept saying ‘stranger things have happened’, although even when Kakar got out it felt like he had done enough.

“To take a team hat-trick in the last over to win was amazing. It was a great win with a genuine contribution from every player.”

Ottery welcomed Upottery in C Division East and produced some terrific bowling to limit their visitors to 163/8 from 45 overs, with Daniel Alford (4/21) and Matthew Jeacock (3/24) the main men with the ball. Matt Broom (42) was the top scorer for Upottery.

The target was revised to 135 from 37 overs for Ottery and a fabulous unbeaten 44 from 42 balls by Jonathan Triner proved the decisive contribution. Sam O’Nyons chipped in with a rapid 23, as the Otters bagged a welcome 19 points.