TITLE hopefuls Callington ground out a 15-run victory at bottom side Grampound Road who more than held their own for long spells.

A delay of three and a half hours meant a 20-over match, the minimum allowed, but what was served up was a close contest all the way through.

The Roadies won the toss and chose to field and from the off kept a lid on the scoring.

Aidan Libby fell to Antony Angove in the fourth over for six, before surviving opener Xavie Clarke and South African Liam Lindsay put on 33. Clarke was later run-out by a combination of Angove and Ravi Karunarathna for 19 (44-2).

The hosts then enjoyed a superb passage of play as Lindsay (27), Max Tryfonos and skipper Graham Wagg all fell within six runs of each other (59-5), two going to Alex Lean (2-27 off 4).

However, the visitors fought back once more as James Brenton and Mohammed Danyaal added 32 from 27 balls.

Nathan Keevil bowled Brenton (19) and Ben Ellis in successive balls, but Danyaal (20no) and Joe White (8no) helped them above three figures to post 106-7.

David Neville (0-13) and Keevil (2-17) bowled tight four-over spells.

Grampound’s batsmen have found it tough since promotion and lost key man Antony Angove for a golden duck to Tryfonos (2-16 off 4).

Although Dave Hoskings fell for a run-a-ball 15, the Road looked well-placed at 46-2 in the ninth over.

But when Lean (12) top-edged Wagg to be brilliantly caught by Ben Alford, Wagg (2-6 off 4), Ellis (1-13) and Lindsay all kept a lid on the run-rate as wickets fell, including Karunarathna to a remarkable catch from debutant Blake Tancock running back towards the long-off boundary.

Skipper Tom Orpe survived the carnage for his 26, but when he was stumped off Lindsay (3-14 off 4), the Road slowed, eventually ending on 91-8.

Reflecting on the victory, Callington director of cricket Joe White said: “It was a long day waiting around for the rain to stop and for the ground to dry, but the Grampound Road grounds team made an excellent effort to be able to get a 20-over game on late in the afternoon.

“But losing the toss and being put into bat wasn’t ideal. The wicket was tricky to bat on and with their bowlers not giving us much width, it was tough to score. Nobody really got going and we felt like we needed 130-140 and fell 30 runs short of par.

“Xavie Clarke was batting very well at the top of the order before he was run out and Liam Lindsay, James Brenton and Mohammed Danyaal all contributed to give us something to defend.”

Despite defending just 107, Callington’s slow bowlers led the way.

White continued: “I couldn’t fault our bowling and fielding efforts. Once again, our spin attack did the damage and there were some incredible catches taken too, at key moments.

Seventeen-year-old Blake Tancock on first team debut took a full-length diving catch over his shoulder to dismiss theiroverseas and that really changed the game. He went on to take two more catches to cap a fine debut.

“After two losses in previous weeks, it was great to bounce back with a win in very tough conditions and we hope we can take that momentum forward, starting with Truro at home on Saturday.”