SATURDAY saw the second of the back to back fixtures between Gunnislake and Milton Abbot. The previous week?s defeat had obviously galvanised the home side and there was an air of determination in the dressing room. Following the recent spell of fine weather the wicket was ideal for batting, the outfield fast and there was a real prospect of a high scoring game. Gunnislake batted first and immediately imposed themselves on the fielding side who were regrettably short of players. Ricard , (15) as usual, looking to dominate right from the start was unlucky to drag a wide ball from Marker (8-0-30-1) back onto his stumps. Rooke (17) deflected a lifting ball from Barber (10-24-5-6) with his glove and was brilliantly caught by stand-in wicket keeper Bray. That second wicket fell in the tenth over but already the score was racing along and there were seventy-nine runs on the board. A big partnership between Astley and Holloway (7) looked likely until the latter, having played sensibly played a rash shot to a wide ball from Barber and was caught at point. The Gunnislake skipper again top scored with forty-five and the visitors were jubilant when he fell to another excellent catch from the keeper. The batting side had gone from 79 for 2 in the tenth over to 100 for 7 in the nineteenth. The longest partnership of the innings then followed between Ansell (6) playing the anchor role and young Sam Boundy (22) scoring runs with some excellent shots though the covers and behind square leg. It has been a feature of the Gunnislake team this season that one of the many youngsters in the side has come good in a time of need. The home side reached a total of 140, giving them four batting points. Milton Abbot?s batsmen had no answer to the Gunnislake bowling attack. Astley (4-2-2-5) and Ricard (4-2-4-2) did most of the damage and young Boundy rounded off an excellent day with the remaining wicket. Top score was ?extras? with five! Gunnislake (19 points) beat Milton Abbott (5 points) by 126 runs.
