Gunnislake travelled to St Austell for this Division 5 East match, with the season beginning to simmer towards a conclusion. The usual August selection problems beset St Austell, who ended up fielding two members of the Ellison family, on holiday from Oxfordshire. Gunnislake looked relatively strong, but were made to work hard by the St Austell youngsters, before Gunnislake finally scrambled to a two wicket victory.
St Austell won the toss and chose to bat, opening with the first of eight youngsters, Toby Clarke and Theo Osbourne. Gunnislake started with some lively pace from captain Dinesh Thirupuvanarajah and the steady accuracy of Lee Roberts. Dinesh struck in the first over, bowling Clarke with a fine yorker. From there St Austell regrouped, but scored slowly. Gunnislake kept the run rate down two an over, with Dinesh getting a second wicket when Osborne was well caught at slip by Joe Organ. After 12 overs St Austell were on 24 for 2; Dinesh rolled the dice and brought on his two spinners: Joe Organ and James Boundy. Boundy struck immediately, with Tom Mallet chipping to mid-wicket, well held above his head by 6 feet 2 inches Jamie Watts. Organ joined in, bowling Reuben Clarke in his first over and St Austell were in trouble at 25 for 4.
St Austell captain Mark Bennetts and Joshua Ellison, the first of two guests, dug in. Nothing passed the tight bat and pad of Bennetts, while young Joshua Ellison hit some lovely shots through the covers. However the run rate remained stubbornly stuck below two an over. Trying to up the tempo, Ellison was run out for 17, with the score on 55. Kieron Bennetts was stumped first ball, before his father followed two overs later, caught behind down the leg side. Once again the Gunnislake spinners had strangled the opposition and broken the back of their opponents’ innings.
Roberts returned for a rare bowl at the tail, taking two wickets before Graeme Murray brought the St Austell innings to an end, bowling Harley hacker for a brief but enterprising 10. St Austell closed on 89 all out, claiming two batting points, but with a score well below par on a good batting strip.
Chasing a small total Dinesh decided to juggle the batting order, to give some of the middle order a game. A noble gesture that almost came unstuck! Josh Crow opened with Kevin Beare, and Crow set off with intent, hitting a six and two fours before Beare had got off the mark. But then he sliced a catch to point, which led to a mini collapse. Three batsmen went for ducks before James Boundy, hoping for a day off, strode to the crease with the score at a dangerous 33 for 4. For a while order was restored as Boundy drove cut and pulled with authority. A Gunnislake victory was looming when St Austell threw the ball to their own spinner, Toby Clarke. Boundy almost immediately missed a straight one, departing for 31, and Jamie Watts immediately followed, top edging a pull to mid-wicket. 77 for 6; Gunnislake were once again revealing their brittle batting. Then Beare was LBW to Clarke, his vigil ending with a score of 21. Next to go was Organ, bowled by Hartley Hacker, before it was left to Graeme Murray and Dinesh Thirupuvanarajah to steer Gunnislake home with four byes and two leg byes. Gunnislake had stuttered to a winning score of 90 for 8, with Murray and Dinesh both unbeaten, but without troubling the scorers. Blushes had been spared. Toby Clarke finished with three wickets for St Austell while Theo Osborne claimed two.
Gunnislake remain in fourth place, but with second place Holsworthy falling to defeat against Bude, it is bunching up at the top of the table. Holsworthy visit Gunnislake next weekend and the home team will have to find an improved batting performance if they are to continue their winning run.
Iconic Opticians Man of the match: James Boundy
St Austell 89 (J Ellison 17; J Organ 2-11, D Thirupuvanarajah 2-13, L Roberts 2-18, G Murray 2-25) Gunnislake 90-8 (J Boundy 31, K Beare 21; T Clarke 3-7, T Osborne 2-16). Gunnislake (18 points) beat St Austell IV (7 points) by 2 wickets.
