Shropshire v Devon: Rain ends tense Whitchurch finale
- Published
Devon's hopes of a first Minor Counties Championship win of a wet summer were dashed by more rain against title outsiders Shropshire at Whitchurch.
With Devon needing two wickets, and Shropshire just 22 runs, an untimely downpour at Heath Road ruined a tense finale with the home side on 214-8.
Mark Orchard took two more wickets to finish with 5-47 as the hosts, 126-5 overnight, fell short of their target.
That meant Shropshire must settle for fourth place in the Championship.
Victory would have lifted them to second behind Cornwall, whose victory over Wales won them the Western Division title.
Devon finished eighth after a frustrating season in which five of their six Championship matches have been affected by rain.
They have won only one game, the rain-reduced one-day victory over Wales in June, while drawing four others, with one complete abandonment against Dorset.
But they can draw comfort from a match in which they had Shropshire 35-8 at one point in the first innings, only for the home side to recover thanks a ninth-wicket stand of 94 between skipper Ed Foster and Elliott Green
MATCH SCORES FROM WHITCHURCH
Match Drawn. Devon 156 (Woodman 49, Oliver 5-11, Barnard 4-19) and 208 (Woodman 70, Benton 46, Thompson 40no, Friend 4-37, Green 4-46), Shropshire 129 (E Foster 58, Green 44no, Anning 5-29) and 214-8 (Oliver 86no, Orchard 5-47).