After some short showers in the early morning, the sun beamed down on Station Ground where the 1st XI sought to make it 4 wins in a row. There were 2 changes from the team that won at Barton with the skipper and spinning partner Alex Jopling returning from holiday.
Choules won the toss yet again and elected to bat. The classy opening pair of Greed & Chilcott set the tone for the day getting value for shots in their opening stand of 69 before Greed was adjudged LBW for 38.
Diamond picked up where Greed left off as Thors accumulated early runs. Chilcott also fell LBW but not before passing his half century. Diamond was next to go for 29 with the consistent top 3 all being given out leg before wicket.
A few wickets then tumbled as we went from 141-2 to 147-5 with 17 overs remaining. Pitt and H. Choules showed maturity to steady the ship until a mix up meant Pitt was run out for 12.
Daldorph came to the crease, increasing the scoring rate in his nonchalant manner as the score rose above 200. Thorverton accelerated further from here and thanks to 55 not out from Choules, a run a ball 28 from Daldorph and a last over flurry from Slaviero Thors posted our highest score of the season so far – 247-7.
Notwithstanding the Cornish approach to scones, sincere thanks were handed to Dan Robbins for a superb tea before the players retook the field.
Despite a fast and disciplined opening spell from Slaviero (1-41) and a mature 5 overs from Robbins, Thors struggled to stem the run flow from the start. Abbots were with and above the required rate for the most part with the score already on 72 by the time we could take 2 wickets – Slaverio and Jopling bowling the opposition numbers 2 and 3 respectively.
Opener Eddie Smout-Cooper took the game to the Thorverton bowling and was well supported by Samuel Carpenter. Despite a number of bowling changes and short spells, Thorverton struggled to get control of the game. By the time the 2nd drinks break came in the 34th over, the visitors were 190-2.
A final roll of the dice saw Slaviero and Choules introduced. There was a glimmer of hope as Choules bowled Carpenter for 40 and then picked up another in the same over but with Smout-Cooper still there and now well past 100, Abbots remained in control.
Choules picked up one more before the visitors took the win with 4 overs to spare. Opener Smout-Cooper finishing on 152 not out.
The skipper concluded:
“A tough one to take yesterday as felt we let it slip after posting a decent score. Maybe it was just under par but would back our bowling to defend 247 most times. We weren’t at our best in the field or with the ball but fair play to Abbots and especially Eddie Smout-Cooper who batted superbly.”
The first XI dropped from 4th to 5th in the congested A Division and are on the road for the next 2 weeks as we travel to Plympton & Exmouth.
Thorverton Cricket Club 