By Ollie Smith
PLYMPTON 2nd XI secured a top-half finish in the E Division West with a convincing 275 run win over Teignmouth & Shaldon 2nd XI.
Teignmouth won the toss and chose to bowl, however must have surely been ruing that decision, as Luke Oxenham (28) and Umashankar Gangatkar got to work, dispatching the early Teignmouth bowling.
Oxenham was the first man to be dismissed, Andrew Epsley (1-63) was the man to claim his wicket, but 117 runs had already been put on for the first wicket.
Gangatkar was in a less forgiving mood, however. Whilst Oxenham had faced 47 balls for his 28, Gangatkar was keen to show why he had already scored more than 500 runs this term. He hit 10 fours and three sixes before he was caught by Epsley, this time off the bowling of Gerard Starling for 95 from just 58.
Isaac Rowsell was joined by Jake Agnew at the crease, and the pair made sure the foundations set by Gangatkar and Oxenham wouldn’t be put to waste.
Rowsell was in a devastating mood and scored his second league ton; ironically, his first also came against this opposition just twelve months earlier. This century came from just 61 balls, as he and Agnew comfortably went past the milestones in their partnership.
Agnew was in similar form himself; he was on 98 before he was run out, although it was less to do with nerves and more to do with muscles, as he was suffering from an intercostal muscle strain at the time. That was with three balls to go, and with Rowsell on strike, Plympton scored another 12, finishing on 387/3 and Rowsell ending on 148 from just 87.
Teignmouth, struggling with availability issues, struggled from the off. Four of their top five batters were dismissed for single figures, and only two other batters reached 10, if you’re not including extras (26).
If it wasn’t for Daniel O’Connell’s 45 at the top of the innings, the game would have been over a lot sooner than it was, and it would have looked far more embarrassing, too. By the time O’Connel was the sixth man out at 93, the game looked to be done.
The pick of the Plympton bowlers were the Sellicks. Captain Adam took four Teignmouth wickets for 19 runs, whilst Jack took two for 15. The wickets were shared around, as every bowler used by Plympton claimed at least one scalp. T&S finished on 112 all out.
Adam Sellick was delighted with the platform built by his openers and the way it was capitalised on by the rest of the top order.
“Luke Oxenham and Umashankar Gangatkar got the team off to a flyer with a stand of 117. This was built on brilliantly by Jake Agnew and Isaac Rowsell, who put on a partnership of 230,” said Sellick. “There was some great hitting and strong running between the wickets which rattled the scoreboard on before Isaac bought his century up off 61 balls.”
Sellick also confirmed it was a mixture of the heat and muscle injuries that meant Agnew struggled by the end of his innings.
“Jake Agnew was unfortunately run out for 98 suffering with a mix of the heat and a suspected intercostal muscle strain, but Isaac stayed in and thumped some more runs to finish on 148 not out.”
“It was great to see two young players who came through the Plympton youth system bat with such maturity.”
“In reply, Daniel O’Connell offered stubborn resistance, but wickets fell at regular intervals.”
This result, coupled with Whitchurch’s victory over Bridestowe & Belstone, has meant Teignmouth have slipped into the relegation zone with one more match day to go. They need to earn four more points than Whitchurch to survive.
