Surrounded by estate woodlands Lanhydrock provides a glorious traditional setting for the time-honoured eccentric English game of cricket. A delightful warm and sunny day presented itself for this match, and a friendly welcome greeted the travelling Gunnislake team. But Gunnislake left four hours later, not quite empty handed, but on the end of a 19 runs defeat.
Lanhydrock won the toss and chose to bat. But they were soon in trouble at 22-2, both wickets falling to Gunnislake captain Dinesh Thirupuvanarajah. Jamie Taylor was bowled and the experienced Mark Trudgeon given out to a close LBW call. From there youngsters Alfie Wilson and Jake Butler began to rebuild the innings, with some excellent cover drives from Butler keeping the scoring rate ticking along. But they fell in quick succession, with Dinesh again leading the way. It was something of a family affair; both were out to catches, one taken by Dan Pethick and the second, one run later, by his cousin James Pethick. After that, fellow bowler Lee Roberts finally joined in taking the fifth Lanhydrock wicket and leaving Gunnislake on top at 76 for 5.
However, a powerful Lanhydrock middle order never gave up, and with a fast outfield the runs not only continued to flow, but the scoring increased in pace. Jake Butler took the attack to Gunnislake and received good support from Michael Rabone. The score had climbed to four runs short of a century partnership before Gunnislake broke through again, Butler caught out and bowled by the gentle off-spin of Kevin Beare, but only after achieving a career high 64. Rabone soon followed, but once again for a career high 32.
A late cameo from Peter Pretorius, 30 from only 12 balls, saw Lanhydrock power past 200 and maximum batting points, while Gunnislake had to be content with nine wickets and four bonus points. At halfway the match was evenly poised.
Gunnislake’s team was stronger than the previous week, but several key batsmen were still missing and much seemed to depend on recent double centurion Dan Pethick. He opened and received solid support from Kevin Beare. After twenty overs the score had reached 109 without loss and Pethick was in full flow. Some exquisite cover drives were complemented with powerful hitting to leg. He gave one clear chance in his fifties, but the opportunity was spurned, when an attempted six was put down at deep mid-wicket. Would Lanhydrock rue the moment?
The breakthrough came in the 21st over when Beare was stumped for 24. Two more quickly followed, as Lanhydrock’s excitement mounted and Gunnislake’s fingernails began to suffer. All seemed to rest on Dan Pethick. Stephen Lees blocked at one end while Pethick continued on the rampage. He launched David Harland for three successive sixes, but then calamity struck! An outside edge was well taken by the wicket-keeper and Pethick was gone for 120. Lanhydrock were euphoric. Gunnislake struggled on gamely against tight bowling, but the required run rate rose as the overs remaining declined. When the allotted forty overs were up, Gunnislake were still 19 runs short, despite having four wickets in hand.
Both sides collected eight bonus points, but it was Lanhydrock’s day as they also claimed ten for the win. They continue to chase a promotion spot while Gunnislake loiter in mid table, waiting for more of their star players to return. Superdan can not do it all on his own…….
Lanhydrock II 209-9 (J Butler 64, M Rabone 32, N James 30, P Pretorius 30n0 ; D Thirupuvanarajah 4-46); Gunnislake 187-6 (D Pethick 120, K Beare 24; B Barnicoat 2-34). Lanhydrock II (18 points) beat Gunnislake (8 points) by 19 runs.
