IVYBRIDGE cruised to five-wicket win over Bovey Tracey that keeps them right in the promotion mix at the top of the Tolchards DCL A Division.

Bovey were bowled out for 112 in the 33rd of the 50 overs available to them with no one making more than tail-ender Ollie Clifford-Bourne (23).

Ivybridge were home and hosed with more than 12 overs to spare on the back of a dogged 34 at the top of the order from Abraham Kopparambil.

In the traffic jam at the top of the table Ivybridge are third on 101 points with Torquay & Kingskerswell (102) and North Devon (104) directly ahead of them. It couldn’t be much tighter.

Bovey were 37 for five in the ninth over after an early going over with the new ball from Arthur Johnson (3-33) and Josh Coker (2-22).

Pete Bradley, Bovey’s ever-youthful former captain, dug in for 19 and his ninth-wicket stand of 31 with Clifford-Bourne was as good as it got for Bovey.

Mickey Copeland and skipper Adam Huxtable took two wickets each working through the lower order.

“After losing the toss, and being asked to bowl, we made the most of the conditions,” said Huxtable. “Josh Coker and Arthur Johnson were outstanding with the new ball and were well backed up by Mickey.”

Ivybridge took few risks wiping off the runs, which was reflected in Bovey’s economy rates. Hem Chetri (1.40), Clifford-Bourne (2.75), Albie Bradley (3.67) and Chris Yabsley (3.75) gave little away.

Kopparambil – 69 balls, five boundaries – and Huxtable (20) made initial inroads into the target. A patient dozen from Dinesh Raheja made further progress, which left Harry Solomon (13no) and Zach Dunn (10no) to tie-up the loose ends.

“It was a fairly routine chase,” said Huxtable. “Abraham batted very well and it was finished off by Harry and Zach.

“I’m very happy with the performance and effort the lads put in to earn a very good win.”

Elsewhere, Alfie Lewis-Frost and Matt Dardis made carbon-copy scores of 73 each for Ivybridge 2nd XI in their 146-run win over their Plymstock counterparts.

Dardis and Lewis-Frost rescued the bridge from a wobbly 34 for four with a stand of 135 for the fifth wicket. Owen Howard chipped in 28 towards an all-out total of 250.

Jason Williams (3-33) had three of the top five in his stats. Scott Mansfield (4-54) trawled through the bottom half.

Three wickets each for Adrian Pullin (3-38) and Farzad Safi (3-19) ripped holes in the Plymstock batting.

No batter got further than 15 for Plymstock, who were bowled out for 104.

Meanwhile, Kingsbridge are still second in the Tolchards DCL C Division West thanks to a 70-run win over second-bottom South Devon.

James Westlake must like something about the South Devon bowling as he took another century off them! He reached exactly a hundred this time, three runs fewer than last season’s tally.

Freddie Ford made 55 – he and Westlake put on 133 for the first wicket – and there were more runs to come from Felix Iles (32) and a staggering 51 extras in a team total of 318 for nine.

Bowling successes were hard to find in South Devon’s scorecard, although Alan Berchams (4-43) did open his account with Westlake’s wicket.

South Devon were 248 for nine in reply. which was a definite improvement on all their previous games. It was their first total above 160 this season.

Jonty Tupman (20) and Jalal Ahmed (40) got away to a 64-run start, Aaron Hammett (21) and Jack Allen. (40) kept going and there was 33 for Dan Yates before the reply tailed-off. Fifty-four extras earned South Devon a batting bonus point!

There were two wickets each for Town seamers Richard Carr and Flynn Taylor. Bhanu DeSilva had three for 36.