In the remaining quarter-finals of the Knockout cup, St Austell claimed their expected place in the last four with a comfortable win over local rivals St Stephen. 

Mike Bone, 49*, did much of the damage with the bat, aided by his brother Gary and Liam Watson.  Mathew Harris scored 26 not out for St Stephen. 

The final game also proved to be fairly straightforward, but much more surprisingly, as Beacon defeated one of their arch rivals and, in many ways the ‘bigger club’, Camborne, by three wickets. 

They chased down the modest 74 runs required with an over and a half to spare, Jack Thomas making 26 not out.  Sam Pooley’s 31* was rather a lone effort for Camborne in their disappointing 73 for 5. 

With a good knowledge of the game and young, but quite experienced, indoor cricketers, Beacon will now approach the semi-finals with some degree of optimism that they can upset hot favourites St Austell.

In the League, Group C leaders St lazey picked up another five points in a fairly comfortable win over Truro 1, who were restricted to 84 for 4 in their 10 overs.  Alex Sparrow (31*) and Keith Read (27*) ensured that the game was won with ten balls to spare. 

The match between Redruth and St Stephen has been rearranged for December 20.  In Group B, Wadebridge conceded to Camborne and Falmouth 1 demolished Newquay, all five players who batted making good scores in their 131-1. 

Beacon, in-form in Group A, ran up the big score of 137 for 4, with Jack Thomas (39*) and Dan Mellor (30) the leading run-makers.  St Erme made a creditable reply, but just failed to make the hundred and a bonus point. 

Two big clubs met in the final game of the week, Grampound Road and St Austell, who recovered from the loss of three early wickets to make 101 for 5, Lewis Sanders having taken 3-21.  Apart from wides (thirty!), Scott Barrott (29) and Matthew Yates (20*) were the batsmen who rescued the innings. 

Grampound Road couldn’t quite keep up with the required scoring rate and went down by 28 runs.

 

Results: KO Cup – St Austell 134-4, St Stephen 61-5 (St Austell won by 73 runs); Camborne 73-5, Beacon 76-3 (Beacon won by 3 wickets).  League – Truro 1  84-4, St Blazey 85-4 (St Blazey won by 2 wickets); Camborne w/o v Wadebridge (conceded); Beacon 137-4, St Erme 96-4 (Beacon won by 41 runs); Falmouth 1  131-1, Newquay 48-2 (Falmouth 1 won by 83 runs); St Sustell 101-5, Grampound Road 73-4 (St Austell won by 28 runs).

Forthcoming fixtures:   Sunday 16 December – KO Cup Semi-Finals: 7.15pm Ladock v Falmouth 1, 8.30pm Beacon v St Austell.  Thursday 20 December – League: 6.45pm St Stephen v Redruth,