Cricket- County Division Three

Menheniot v St Minver

League leaders St Minver made the trip to the village ground on Saturday and upon winning the toss elected to bat first on a day when the weather at times was more reminiscent of February than July.

Robbie Hawken and Nigel Kent got the visitor's innings off to a good, solid start against the opening attack of Ed Gard and Ian Goldsmith without ever threatening to run amok. However, at the 20 over mark, these two had put on 72 runs without being separated, which could have set the platform for a score well in excess of the 200 run mark.

At this point, Phil Adsett, who is fast maturing into the role of captain, turned to Stuart Taylor and Jeremy Randle to try and get the much needed break through.

After an erratic first over, which to be fair saw four over-throws, Taylor once again came up trumps when he dismissed Kent, caught and bowled for a well made 25. In his next over, he clean-bowled Ray Butler and young Matt Holland in consecutive balls, both for ducks to leave the visitors suddenly looking for somebody to support Hawken and provide acceleration. Daly tried to do this, but when Gard had him caught by Alex Tunnadine, mis-hooking at mid-wicket for a breezy 24, St Minver's innings lost momentum to eventually reach 185-8 at the end of 48 overs. Robbie Hawken played a typical innings for him as he was out in the last over for a solid 75.

Menheniot once again stuck at it in the field with all the bowlers performing well. Randle can count himself very unlucky to be the only bowler not to take a wicket as he beat the bat time and again only to see any edges avoid the fielders. Gard returned figures of 2-52, Goldsmith 2-34 and Taylor 3-33.

Menheniot's reply in the form of Adsett and young Alex Tunnadine got off to a steady start against some tight bowling from the visitor's attack.

Tunnadine, at just 14 years-old, looks the part of an opening batsmen in every respect and it was he who first took the game to the St Minver side with some very attractive stroke play before chipping a full-toss straight back at Old to leave the home side on 35-1 at 15 over.

However, there is no doubt that as he gains experience, Tunnadine will become a thorn in the side of any opposition. This left the experienced John Carpenter, who promptly contrived to do exactly the same thing off Brown and when Massey was run out in a mix-up with Adsett, the game was finely in the balance with the score at 58-3 at the 24th over mark. The demise of Gard, bowled by Brown for eight, led to the introduction of Goldsmith to join Adsett in what turned out to be one of the best match winning partnerships seen at Menheniot for a long time. However, at the start it was a case of steady accumulation on a wicket that always did a bit, so much so that the home side required 77 to win from the last 10 overs. With wickets in hand, these two kept the target within reach with a combination of quick running and a series of rich stroke play that had the watching spectators applauding generously.

The task was accomplished with three balls to go as Adsett deservedly hit the winning boundry to carry his bat for a superb 69 not out which set the platform for victory. Goldsmith ended on 67 not out with an innings that showed exactly what he is capable of with the bat as Menheniot ran out the winners by four wickets.

This was a game that had everybody biting their finger nails right until the end and once again proved that, given the necessary application, there is certainly enough ability at Menheniot to make an impact on the division in the near future.

Scorecard

St Minver

R Hawken c Adsett b Goldsmith 75

N Kent c & b S Taylor 25

R Butler b S Taylor 0

M Holland b S Taylor 0

C Daly c Tunnadine b Gard 24

S Bennetts c Maiden b Gard 13

N Daly b Goldsmith 3

D brown run out 5

C Old not out 4

S Patterson not out 4

Extras 32

Ttl - 185-8

Bowling - E Gard 16-5-52-2; I Goldsmith 10-2-34-2; Je Randle 14-1-56-0; S Taylor 8-2-33-3.

Menheniot

P Adsett not out 69

A Tunnadine c & b Old 20

J Carpenter c & b Brown 4

J Massey run out 3

E Gard b Brown 8

I Goldsmith not out 67

Extras 18

Ttl - 189-4

Bowling - C Old 15-2-52-1; D Brown 16-7-30-2; R Hawken 13-1-69-0; R Butler 3.3-0-24-0.

Menheniot (19 pts) beat St Minver (six) by six wickets.