PLYMOUTH 2NDS UNDEFEATED
Plymouth 328-6 (J Luffman 122no; extras 63, T Hughes 60no, R Button 41, Pavi Mawalagi 26; M Gregory 3-80, J Pfeiffer 2-88), Plympton 138 (S Smith 23, D Vince 29; D Karuppu 3-45, J Hughes 2-21). Plymouth (20pts) bt Plympton (5) by 190 runs.
On a bright hot sunny Saturday at Mount Wise the 2nds faced their local rivals Plympton.
Plympton having won the toss surprisingly elected to field - have they not read the last 3 Sunday Independants !!! where we have scored well over 200 runs in the last 3 games and 2 consecutive 300 run innings at Mount Wise.
We were hoping for a bright start and then disaster struck !!!!
With Mat Gregory bowling down the slope, swinging the ball both ways with the new ball we were in extreme trouble at 16 for 3.
BUTTON and LUFFMAN were in survival mode - another wicket down and the game could have been lost. BUTTON also known as 'THE CRAB' for his ability to stick it out scored runs freely, while Jake batted like a rock around him.
At drinks (17 overs) Plymouth had bounced back from 16 for 3 to 80 odd for 3.
BUTTON then played a lofted offdrive after failing to see long off on the boundary - it was a horrible mistake to make and the fielder ran from the boundary making the catch dismissing the gutted captain for 41.
Pavi came in and made a brisk 26 off 23 balls and Harry BARNES came and went quickly for 7.
In cameTom HUGHES, whose past 2 innings scored 22 not out and 34 not respectively. Tom was the ideal partner for Jake as he maneged to rotate the strike with ease taking singles to mid off and on at every opportunity.
Jake eased to his 50 and once he made this mark the flood gates opened and Jake continued to hit boundaries with ease.
Tom continued to pinch the singles giving Jake the opportunity to hit the boundaries and reach his 100.
Tom shortly followed with his own 50 and the innings ended on a masive 328 for 6.
Such was the confidence of our team declaring was never an option and it appeared to have work as the Plympton players trudged off the pitch looking very dejected.
Jakes and Toms unbeaten stand of 174 for the sixth wicket is a league record and they are to be congratulated on this amazing achievment !!!
This was also the 3rd conecutive occasion that we have scored over 300 runs at home - possibly another record for the seconds that will need to be confirmed by club officials.
With the sun going behind the clouds it was time for the ever reliable swing king Danuka to enter the arena partnered by Chilly - a formidable opening attack that would test many premier league batsmen.
The Plympton openers started brightly but it wasn't long before Danukas knack of huge inswinging deliveries caused them problems. One delivery swang so much the batsmen shouldered up leaving the ball only to see both bails fly off the stumps an amazing delivery.
With the Plympton batsmen shutting up shop wickets were hard to come by on a superb Mount Wise track.
After last weeks poor fielding and bowling performance all players this week stepped up to the mark, with every one fielding sharply and bowling good lines and length.
With approxiamtely 10-12 overs to go we needed 4 wickets to earn the full 20 points.
Harry Barnes started the rot and another quick wicket fell when Danuka came back into the attack.
However the Plympton batsmen again shut up shop and it was time for the captain to take the game by the scruff of the neck dismissing the 9th wicket with 4 overs to go.
Then with 3 overs left it was Ben STEINS chance to take glory and he did not dissapoint !! STEINY took the 10th wicket with his 4th ball, with captan BUTTON taking the catch at fly slip after the batsmen had gloved the ball, which had looped over Harrys head at keeper.
It was a perfect end to a perfect day for the seconds with a massive group hug and cheers to end the game and take a deserved 20 points.
We have now only dropped 2 points in 5 games.
We now face a tough 3 weeks where we will face the leagues best three teams EXETER, NORTH DEVON and SIDMOUTH.
This Saturday we travel to EXETER who are placed second in the table and seem to be regularly scoring 200 runs plus.
This will be our toughest game yet and a win will stretch our lead further from the chasing pack.
Lets not get to carried away with our recent successes as a loss on Saturday will see our position at the top of the table replaced.
Stay focused lads !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Finally on a lighter note it was good to see PAVI 'the sheep of the week' wear the fleece for 17 overs - a massive 7 overs more than he needed to - good stuff PAV.
If Jake is with us this Saturday I am sure he will wear the fleece with pride!!!
p.s
The teas this year have been a real treat for the players and a massive thanks goes out to JENNY for preparing them this week - I must say those chicken and stuffing sandwiches went down a treat.
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