Sea Breeze Oval (Devonshire Rec., won toss); Devonshire Rec., beat Flatts by three wickets

A suddenly resurgent Devonshire Rec survived many anxious moments towards the close to beat Flatts and record their second win in as many matches in the Athene T20 First Division

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Flatts were able to post a modest but challenging total, with veteran early-order bat Kijuan Franks encouraging matters with a rapid 24 runs from just 14 balls.

Franks was not alone in the scoring department, as Jan-Johan Nel continued to show good form at the top of the order with 23 from 18 deliveries, including three fours, before he was caught and bowled by Dion Ball.

It was left to Zack Morris in the middle of the order to shepherd the late order towards their closing total of 28 after top scoring with an unbeaten knock of 24.

For Devonshire, Lorenzo Simmons and captain Rudell Pitcher led the bowling attack, each claiming a brace.

And Pitcher would later prove key among Devonshire’s lower batting order, along with Lorenzo Simmons. Both battled well in the face of hostility when needing five runs from the final over to achieve victory, which was accomplished with a leg-side glance by Simmons to backward of square, which accounted for the final three pivotal runs.

“I knew that it wasn’t a big total that was set and that if we got a good start we could have guys chip in later on, which is why I held Drewonde Bascome back until later when he could play more shots and get behind the ball,” Pitcher said.

“He was important for us today with his explosive batting and our bowlers really came through as well, so it was a true team effort.

“Our fielding let us down a little bit, and we made some mistakes that could have cost us, but that happens in amateur sports.”

Bascome, who scored 81 not out the day before in an 87-run upset defeat of second-placed Willow Cuts, again led the batting with 33 at number six.

Others in double figures for the victors were Ankoma Cannonier (16), Tarik Jennings (12), Allan Butterfield (10), Simmons (11) and Pitcher (10), who incurred the fortune of being dropped by Nelson Bascome at the long-on boundary in the penultimate over, with the match well in the balance.

Flatts also suffered through their own error, being penalised five runs by the umpires for running onto the pitch while batting.

Meanwhile, Pitcher’s outlook for the rest of the season was more positive.

“We had it kid of hard with guys working and not being able to make it,” he said. “People have families they have to take care of. I was off-island for a few games and missed some matches, but when we’re at full strength we can compete with almost any team on the Island.