Gunnislake’s topsy turvy season continued on Saturday. Following a nine wicket win against Grampound Road last week, a weakened team fell to a heavy 143 run defeat at Newquay.
Newquay won the toss and chose to bat; did they know Gunnislake came with only two front line bowlers? Things started well for Gunnislake, with captain Dinesh Thirupuvanarajah soon among the wickets. At the other end Graham Murray struggled a little with cross winds, with the keeper and fine leg kept busy with a series of wides, not helped by prodigious swing. When Newquay’s fifth wicket fell in the seventeenth over the score had only advanced to 59, with four wickets to Dinesh, two bowled and two caught behind. However, from that point the tide turned steadily I Newquay’s favour. Captain Tom Stephenson held firm at one end, while Arun Kumar took the attack to Gunnislake. Dinesh dropped Kumar off a skied pull from the last ball of his allotted ten overs and it was to prove a costly miss.
It would be unfair to point the finger at Dinesh, and as the score grew steadily Gunnislake missed a succession of chances. Nine catches were missed in total, while Kumar capitalised on the visitors’ generosity. Gunnislake’s part time bowlers had little luck as catches were spurned and the Newquay scoring rate accelerated. Kumar eventually fell to a well taken catch by Dinesh at long on, for a fine 79, including three sixes and twelve fours. The bowler? Gunnislake’s opening batsmen Sam Graber. Graber also bowled Stephenson, with a ball that pitched middle and moved off the seam to catch the top of middle and off stump: does another career await? But there was no let-up for Gunnislake with Charlie Bishop hitting a quick 23 not out at the end as Newquay closed on 215 for 8. Dinesh was the outstanding bowler, with 4 for 32.
Gunnislake’s reply always looked shaky. Newquay’s opening bowlers, Munashi Mutamiri and Alfie Bishop, gave nothing away. Batting suddenly looked harder, with pace, accuracy and variable bounce making survival the order of the day. After 12 overs, only 12 runs had been scored, and worse still three wickets had fallen. All hope for Gunnislake now seemed to rest with opening bowlers Murray and Dinesh. Runs scored at last overtook overs, but there was little respite with a change of bowling. Kumar, off a short run-up, whipped down some fast seam bowling. Dinesh was run out, going for a second to Bilal Ibrahimkhail, who threw down the stumps with an exceptional piece of fielding. Then Murray was bowled by Kumar to leave Gunnislake reeling at 44 for 7. It became a question of how long Gunnislake would last. Newquay opted to bring on a succession of young bowlers as Gunnislake’s tail wagged slightly. But Charlie Bishop took the last three wickets with his leg breaks as Gunnislake collapsed to 71 all out. Murray top scored with 16, while Bishop and Kumar claimed three wickets each for Newquay.
And so Newquay claim maximum points while Gunnislake went home with their tails between their legs and a mere 5 points. Captain Dinesh Thirupuvanarajah probably earned them on his own, but he will need more support from his colleagues if Gunnislake are to prosper!
Newquay 220-8 (A Kumar 79, T Stephenson 24, C Bishop 23no; D Thirupuvanarajah 4-32). Gunnislake 71 C Bishop 3-7, A Kumar 3-13). Newquay (20 points) beat Gunnislake (5 points) by 143 runs)
