Skipper Tom Elmslie maintained his 100% toss winning record put the opposition into bat on what looked to be a tricky wicket.

Giordy and Itesham opened the bowling and kept things tight. With the pressure mounting a false shot from their opening bat saw the ball sail into the air before being calmly taken by Raees.

The other opener fell to a nice bit of bowling by Niraj who due to a build up of pressure forced the batsmen to play an expansive shot which he chopped onto his leg stump. Baks also bowled a very tidy line outside off stump and really kept the pressure on. However, due to the dampness surrounding the pitch, midway through his 4th over twisted his ankle when landing at the popping crease. Unfortunately this was the end to Baks’ day as an ice pack and elevation replaced line and length.

The ball was then thrown to Hanzi who finished the over with some testing away swingers. Elmo realised an opportunity to turn the screw and Hanzi bowled a delightful set of 4 overs for 18 and got his reward with an outside edge caught at first slip.

The sun came out and batting conditions improved with a strong partnership 5th wicket partnership. Missed opportunities in the field resulted in the oppo making quick runs until Elmo bamboozled their number 5 with a beaut pitching on leg and taking the top off off. This was followed by an LBW in his next over which regained some control. Harry Davies also bowled some top overs from the other end and deserved a wicket. But as a team, we would all admit that we let each other down in the field with some drop catches resulting in bowlers not getting rewards for their hard work.

At the death, big credit to Giordy who kept it tight all day with a disciplined line and picked up 2 wickets, one of which was a good grab by Hanzi, sprinting in from the boundary and the second caught on the boundary by Harry. At the end the oppo finished on 219 for 7, 40 or so more than they should have due to the old saying, ‘catches win matches’.

Time for tea. Prior to the game we had the dreaded ‘no teas will be provided’ message on Pitchero bringing a mixture of heartbreak and panic amongst the group. Fear not. With a bit of tactical brilliance from skipper Tom Elmslie the Plough Picnic was born. He put out the war cry during the week, and boy did his troops answer the call. Led by general Josh Kerr and assisted by his deputies Crane and Hanzi we arrived to a tea like no other. But what about plates, cutlery and cups I hear you ask? The cavalry arrived in the form of Raees and Baks with everything required, including plush napkins to make the experience fit for royalty! Following the glorious feast and feeling much better about ourselves we switched our focus back to the job in hand.

The Plough opened the batting with Hanzi and Merch, with the aim to set a platform to build on. The oppo had had a very good attack with a quick left armer bowling some decent in-swingers. Despite Hanzi looking solid in defence he got one that moved significantly crashing into leg stump. Crane came in at 3 and was unlucky to be caught on the boundary. Raees was bowled with a very good in-swinging yorker, and Elmo suffered the same fate at number 5. Wickets came in quick succession with Harry furious at himself for leaving a gap between bat and pad and Merch being trapped LBW. Kersy and Sham and Niraj were also dismissed to some good bowling.

Due to Baks not being able to bat the oppo skipper was happy for some LMS action. Giordy at the end with a valiant effort, soaking up deliveries and even calling his out his own no’s, singles and twos! Overall a disappointing day with the bat left the Plough considerably short of the target. With each of us learning some valuable lessons for the remainder of the season, we embarked on a debrief at a nearby pub, newly equipped with our plough buckets (thank you Tom Elmslie), much to the envy of the oppo team and the general public. That evening with most of us licking our wounds after a heavy defeat we received a voice note from the forever vibes captain Wayne. With that sexy voice we all know and love came the words ‘in situations like this, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and…..PLOUGH ON’ And we will do just that!

Match report produced by Hussain Selmi