Before a ball had been bowled, skipper Max Gumpert informed the team he was feeling under the weather and recommended everyone maintain a respectful two-metre social distance from him.

Batting first, the Plough got off to a seemingly solid start thanks largely to Ean Smith, who was creaming the ball around nicely. His 31 provided the backbone of the innings as the wickets of Alex, George, Ajay and Gumpert fell and put the brakes on proceedings.

Fortunately, Callum Daley had arrived by this point. Fashionably late after an early flight home from Amsterdam, Daley played one of his trademark innings, mixing improvisation and boundary-hitting. He must have been inspired by the Anne Frank Museum and all of those canals.

His entertaining 44 kept the Plough moving along before he was eventually caught on the boundary trying to clear the ropes once more.

At the other end, Leo Kelly produced a gritty innings of 15* from 35 deliveries. While not one for the highlight reel, it was more of a supporting role, allowing Daley to keep most of the strike and to continue depositing the ball towards the fence.

Unfortunately, after Daley's departure, the Plough suffered a familiar Sunday cricket wobble. Alex, Bisi, Sham and Kerrsy all fell in quick succession to some very accurate bowling, leaving Merton all out for 139.

At tea, opinions varied. Some felt 139 was defendable. Others felt it would require several miracles, a favourable breeze and possibly a Merton collapse of historic size.

Bowling & Fielding

Defending 139 against a strong Merton batting lineup was never going to be straightforward, but the Plough started brightly. We simply had no option but to give ourself a chance. Leo Kelly and Sham took the new ball and both looked threatening, creating chances and asking questions of the openers. Unfortunately for the Plough, the Merton batsmen found the answers fairly quickly and began to settle.

The turning point came with the introduction of Bisi and Gumpert. Bisi built pressure with a tidy spell, while Gumpert took full advantage at the other end. The skipper cleaned up with three wickets and, remarkably, despite battling whatever bug had been circulating, found himself on a hat-trick at one stage.

Callum Daley then entered the attack and bowled economically, keeping things tight and forcing the batsmen to work for their runs. Kerrsy and Alex Harvey also chipped in with tidy spells as Merton continued to search for breakthroughs.

As the game progressed, gradually the very experienced Merton side gained the upper hand and took away a deserved victory just after drinks. We go again next time – Plough on!

Match report from Leo Kelly