Match report
The thought of a gloriously sunny Sunday at the DSG spent with the likes of Prasad, Gray and Keogh made it very hard to sleep on the Saturday night.
We were sent into bat first by Putney CC and the boys made good use of the great conditions and fast outfield.
It was a delight seeing Plough’s iconic baby blue helmet back in action, with Iskandar Eaton joining Leo Canelo to open our innings. The boys feasted on some wayward bowling to get us off to a strong start. After Leo was bowled by the only ball that kept low all day, Iskandar was joined by Raees who kept our innings rolling. Iskandar notched a lovely 50 just after tea before being caught on the boundary for 56 (approximately 53 of those runs were scored through backward point).
The big story of our innings though was Raees, who completely dominated after Iskandar’s dismissal. 9 4s and 3 huge 6s led to a sublime 76. I predict many more runs for him this season!
Lonnen, Prasad and Elmsie also contributed to get us to a very respectable 223.
Over another lovely DSG tea, I could barely contain my excitement at the thought of opening the bowling with our fearless league skipper, the Notorious E.A.R.L..
We were able to get off to a decent start, taking out their opener. Grayzer was very unlucky not to take multiple wickets. Darren Lonnen and Tom Elmsie then followed. Much like McGrath and Warne, these two formed a formidable pace/spin combination and were the pick of the bowlers on the day.
With the oppo reeling at 6/114 after 25 overs, the mighty Plough could smell another Sunday victory. Unfortunately, we became a bit complacent in the field and combined with a good middle order, the game was back on.
Not content with a half century, Iskandar was thrown the ball and took the key wicket of their highest run scorer. With Leo taking 2, we had the oppo needing 20 runs in 3 overs with only 1 wicket in hand.
However, it wasn’t to be. In a nail biting finish, the tail wagged just enough and their number 11 was able to hit the winning runs with only 2 balls to spare. A shame we didn’t grab the win, but a good Sunday outing nonetheless.
Special mention to Bob Keogh for his fielding on the day. Much like Rahul chasing after a tray of jager bombs, Freeway was tenacious hunting down boundaries and putting the team before himself! We love to see it.
Plough On!
Matt Shagger Hopper
