Double defeat is big blow for Papplewick & Linby NPL title ambitions

Two defeats in as many days left Papplewick & Linby's Nottinghamshire Premier League title hopes hanging by a thread last weekend.
Louis Bhabra - Papplewick will battle on.Louis Bhabra - Papplewick will battle on.
Louis Bhabra - Papplewick will battle on.

They also lost influential captain Ben Trevor-Jones with a dose of Covid.

But acting captain Louis Bhabra said they were not giving up and would battle on to finish as high as possible.

A big 201-run defeat at Radcliffe-on-Trent was followed by a five wicket loss at Plumtree and Bhabra said: “We went into the weekend quite confident it could be a 16-pointer – especially against Plumtree on Sunday after a tough game against Radcliffe on Saturday.

“But they played some really good cricket and were just the better team on the day to be fair.

“Having Ben missing was a huge loss as he leads us well and is obviously a really good batsman. Then on Sunday we were missing one or two more but nothing we were too concerned about.

“We just didn't play the cricket we've played all year that has made us successful which was a tad disappointing but happens sometimes. We hope we get Ben back on Saturday depending on his symptoms and a negative test.”

Radcliffe made a huge 283-8 on Saturday, William Masojada with 97 not out and Jacob Deavon-Baker with 60, Ben Bhabra taking 4-62.

Papplewick were then skittled out for 82 in 24.4 overs, Irfan Haider with 5-29 and Jack Peirce with 3-13.

On the margin of defeat, Bhabra said: “They bowled really well. But with win/lose cricket now we went out with the mentality of going for the 280 all the way rather than blocking out for a draw.

“Falling so short maybe looked worse than if we'd batted the overs and batted sensibly but we were batting for the win the whole way through.”

Papplewick made 203 all out on Sunday, Brent Williams with 57 and Daniel Blatherwick with 45. But Plumtree reached 207-5 in 43.3 overs with 67 for Benjamin Compton and 57 for Saad Ashraf.

That left Papplewick fourth, only 12 points behind leaders Cuckney with three games to go, but with Cavaliers and Kimberley having games in hand and able to finish higher.

“They are all must-win games now if we want to win it or get into the top four and Dan Sutton Trophy. We need to win these last three games and see where that leaves us,” said Bhabra.

“Morale is still pretty good. We are not going to dwell on the weekend. “We've had a good run this year and are probably in the best position the club has been in a long time.

“We're also in the final of the Derbyshire Cup in a few weeks which is massive achievement for the club and something we're looking forward to.”