After two wins in as many weeks, the 1st XI travelled to Torquay to take on Barton 1st XI in front of the Disney+ cameras and amongst the hum of the Torbay Airshow.
Thors made four changes from the win over Kilmington, lining up with:- A.Chilcott, G.Greed, T.Diamond, J.Van Der Meulen, D.Robbins, H.Choules+, J.Porter (1st XI debut), G.Daldorph, B.Slaviero*, J.Stirling
Slaviero won the toss in front of the documentary ensemble and elected to bat. With intermittent showers all morning, the covers had successfully kept the wicket dry. Greed and Chilcott opened for Thors. Greed was unfortunate not to see the opening over out; blocking a full ball from Crocker only to strike it into his front leg and the ball squirmed back onto his stumps.
May’s Player of the Month Tom Diamond joined Chilcott in the middle, in the shadow of his beloved Plainmoor and the pair proactively took the game to the hosts; running aggressively and happily putting away any loose balls from the Barton opening pair of Crocker and Lipton and Thors had reached 33-1 after five overs.
The pair continued to accumulate until the left armed Lipton managed to get the ball to swing back into Chilcott (18 from 24) and wrap him on the pads in front. A self-proclaimed cold Van Der Meulen walked out to join Diamond at 38-2.
The former India U19 off-spinner Siddesh Veer came into the attack and removed an exasperated Diamond in his second over LBW for 16. Lieutenant Robbins strolled out beneath his aviation counterparts with the score at 58-3.
Van Der Meulen & Robbins set about keeping Veer at bay and counterattacking the change bowlers from the other end. Barton skipper Parker brought himself into the attack and swiftly removed himself after a solitary over following two boundaries from Van Der Meulen, including a six over square leg. Off-spinner Harford replaced him and the overseas continued to take the game to Barton, hitting a huge six onto the host’s pavilion roof. He tried to do the same over long on and holed out in the same over for 45, the visitors 98-4 after just 19 overs. Veer struck again in the following over to find the leading edge of Robbins and the hands of Bell at cover for 9.
Pitt and Choules were tasked with trying to keep our Veer who was now generating some serious turn off the surface. Choules was quickly stumped off Veer trying to reach the pitch of the ball for just one, Pitt and Porter followed him two overs later, both bowled to provide Veer witb another two victims. In the flash of an eye, the visitors had gone from 98-3 to 103-8, with 26 of the allotted overs still to be bowled.
George Daldorph went on the counter attack from the start, hitting Harford for 12 off the following 25th over, including a 6 over long on. The next man to go was skipper for 0; the impressive Veer finishing with 6-21 to put in his docuseries. Stirling was the last man in with the score on 120-9. He hung around for 7 overs, leaving Daldorph to do the scoring. Daldorph was finally caught behind for 36 and the visitors looked in a precarious position in the match with 140 all out and over an hour to be played before tea.
After a brisk turnaround, Slaviero and Daldorph formed the new ball pairing for the visitors. They kept things tight from the get-go and the pressure soon paid dividends, the skipper getting Needham, caught at cover by Diamond. Daldorph struck in the following over, getting one to lift on Lewis, who was smartly caught by Van Der Meulen at gully; all of a sudden Thors were well in the game with the hosts at 8-2 from 6 overs.
Slaviero soon struck again, bowling Lipton in the 9th. Siddesh Veer came to the crease alongside Barton skipper Adam Parker, who perished to his first ball, and the first ball of Van Der Meulen’s spell, Jason finding some serious bounce off a length and all Parker could do was pop the ball up to Slaviero in the gully.
Pitt was introduced and kept things tight. Van Der Meulen bowled Lipton in the 12th, leaving the visitors reeling at 28-5.
Van Dee Meulen continued to chip away at Veer and the middle order, eventually Veer was adjudged caught behind. Shelton and Bell struggled through to tea at 41-6 from 17 overs.
After a 30 minute break and a subdued atmosphere from both sides in the pavilion, Shelton and Bell rebuilt the Barton innings slowly, taking the score to 70-6 after 27 overs. Pitt, Van Der Meulen and Slaviero all toiled away in the muggy conditions to no avail. Robbins was introduced and struck twice in his third over, Shelton well caught by Chilcott running back at mid on, then bowling Bell 3 balls later to a ball which kept lower than the batter anticipated. Barton 70-8 after 29.
More bowling changes ensued with Daldorph back after Pitt had completed his overs tidying for 0-23. There was a single over from Stirling before an inspired piece of fielding from Van Der Meulen ran out Harford at the non-strikers end with a direct hit. Bowker was then bowled by Daldorph with the next ball and Barton were all out for 91; Thors victors by 49 runs and claiming 16 points. An incredible game of cricket with all twenty wickets falling in under 70 overs play. After 5 matches, Thors are 4th in the A Division.
Skipper Ben Slaviero “Jason and George batted really well. Chilly and Tom got good starts. All our bowlers bowled well, keeping good lines and I thought our fielding was brilliant.”
Thank you to Keeley Wells for scoring.
Next up for the 1st XI is a home fixture against Abbotskerswell.
Thorverton Cricket Club 