BOVEY Tracey were made to work for a three-wicket win over Cullompton in a low-scoring affair on the Ashburton Road ground.

Runs were definitely hard to come by when Cully batted first as they struggled against seamers Seb Ansley (2-25) and Ben Kay (3-24) to reach 37 for four.

Nisapthan Saravanane (31) and skipper Brendon Parr (53) applied themselves to add 75 for the fifth wicket and make the game competitive.

Albie Bradley, teenage son of former Bovey captain Pete Bradley, made the breakthrough when he teased an over-ambitious shot out of Saravanane.

Dad Pete then ran through the bottom half of the order to claim four for 32 in ten overs as Cully bowed out for 169.

A succession of Bovey’s top-five batters got in, got settled and got out again. Only Slade van Staden (24) got out of the teens.

Spin was king for Cully with wickets for Akshay Bharadwaj (3-48), and Deshan Dias (3-31) in a running total of 94 for five.

The game was won and lost by knocks from Sam Harvey (27), Ansley (25) and Will Christophers (23no).

For Bovey it was just the pick-me-up needed after a 10-wicket pasting by Plympton last time out.

Ansley, the Bovey skipper, said: “Overall a good win that was too close in the end, although Cullompton did bowl well on a turning pitch.

“Not too happy with our performance with the bat, from multiple bad-shot choices (including myself) or execution. There were a couple of good dismissals interspersed.

“Our bowling was quality stuff – including ‘old man’ Bradley rolling back the years with a fantastic spell that restricted Cullompton to a gettable total.”

Also, Ansley is optimistic for what’s to come: “Halfway through, we are in touch with the three teams above us. We need to tighten up in a couple areas … and roll on the return fixtures!”