B Division

Tavistock v Plymstock

Tavistock (20 pts) beat Plymstock by six wickets.

WITH summer finally here, Tavistock firsts travelled to top of the table Plymstock in a must win game.

Having won the toss, Plymstock chose to bat first with their strong line up. As usual, using the new ball well was crucial, as it only swings for six or seven overs. James McGahey, fresh from three weeks off, was straight into his work, beating both sides of the bat regularly.

With balls flying through the slips and catches being spilled, he took matters into his own hands. He knocked off stump over twice in an over, removing both openers, leaving Plymstock at 24-2.

This bought Scott Mansfield and Jack Horton to the crease and they proceeded to attack at every opportunity with some fine stroke play on a now flat and lifeless wicket. They put on 109 before Shaun Daymond span one through their defence, another quickly followed. These two wickets bought a sense of calm as Plymstock re-evaluated their target from 280 down.

The returning seamers of Callum Worth, Marc Lewis and James White all took wickets, but it was the returning McGahey who, with three wickets, shut down the innings. A fine spell of quality bowling demonstrating his skills with new and old ball rewarded with five wickets. Tavistock did well to bowl the opposition out for 228.

The Tavy openers of David Ball and Ian Gray started well, putting on 57 for the first wicket before Ball fell for 25. Daymond 14 and Dave Manning, who fell to a fine running catch on the boundary for 17, kept the game moving along.

The Plymstock slow bowlers were bowling well and the run rate was creeping up to sevens. 13-year-old James White joined Gray at the crease. Gray with a fine array of attacking shots kept the run rate in check whilst White got himself going.

Gray took himself to a century with another boundary and White started to open up, scoring all around the wicket. Tavistock reached their target with two overs to spare with Gray 110 not out off 124 balls and White 37 not out off 27 balls.

For Tavistock this was a fine victory that keeps their season alive.