The 1st XI made their way through the torrential rain in Exeter and arrived at a sunny Maer ground as the raincoats were swapped for sun cream.
Choules won the toss and elected to bat against high flying Exmouth. We lined up with: Chilcott, Greed, Diamond, Van Der Meulen, Robbins, H. Choules, Daldorph, Hooper, Slaviero, Jopling & J. Choules
The pitch was hard and the outfield rapid as discovered when Greed found the boundary second ball. After 4 overs we were 20-0 but Greed fell to a superb catch in the 5th by ex Shobrooke player Dan Pyle. Pyle parried a hard flash in the gulley then took the rebound one handed while on the floor.
The wicket didn’t halt the momentum though as Diamond joined Chilcott as the pair ran with intent and found the boundary regularly, bringing up the 100 in the 20th over. Soon after, Chilcott brought up his half century, shortly followed by the 100 partnership and then Diamond’s 50 came too.
The aggressive running was the undoing of Chilcott in the 33rd over though, falling for 64. As Van Der Meulen strode to the crease the score was 149-2. Jason upped the run rate as he does so well before being bowled by England Death Captain George Greenway for 17. George was fresh off an Ashes series win in Australia.
It was Robbins turn to enjoy the conditions, striking a quick fire 20 before being caught in the 41st over but not before he and Diamond got the score above 200.
Thors were set for a very significant score but lost wickets too regularly to inflict too much more damage on Exmouth. Diamond fell for 84 and by the time H. Choules, Daldorph and Hooper also went, it was down to Slaviero and Jopling to target the final batting point (250).
The pair ran well and Jopling found the boundary on the first ball of the last over which brought the score to 250. The significance of reaching the 5th batting point was not lost on the glut of Thor’s spectators as a polite cheer went up. Jopling then immediately freed his arms and somehow managed to dispatch Pyle for 6 over third man’s head. We ended up on 259-9.
Pleased with the efforts first innings, Thors were under no illusions that Exmouth would back themselves to chase 260 particularly with South African pro Jason Niemand opening up who has only failed to reach a century once this season when he fell in the 90s against Plympton.
Slaviero and Daldorph started encouragingly with the new cherry, restricting Exmouth to just 34-0 from the first 10 overs. Robbins was then introduced and removed Devon opener Horler for 37 using the same plan as was used at Plympton last week – Horler caught superbly at deep square leg by Van Der Meulen.
By the time Pyle came in at 3, the score was 73-1 after 18 overs. The spin pairing of Choules & Jopling were now into the attack but Niemand was now looking comfortable and manipulating the field and bowling with relative ease.
Jopling made sure of the end of Pyle thanks to a smart catch at short mid wicket by Daldroph as the score reached 92-2 after 20 overs. Niemand passed his 50 soon after, the score reaching 138-2 at drinks.
Hooper bowled a tight 5 over spell after drinks but Thors struggled to find a breakthrough as Niemand was now being supported by Finley Marks.
After 30 overs the score was 164-2 and the hosts required under 5 an over to win. With Niemand in this would be a formality so wickets were needed. Bowlers were rotated but the closest we came to a breakthrough was when Niemand scampered for a quick 2nd run to bring up his 100. A direct hit probably would have had him out for 99.
The hosts accelerated from here and took the win in the 43rd over off of Chilcott’s first ball of the season who was introduced as a last throw of the dice for a wicket. Niemand finished on a chanceless 145* from 126 balls and Marks finished on 58*.
Spirit in the Thors ranks remained high with the skipper stating:
“Really proud of the team today. We scored our highest score of the season against top of the league and kept our spirits up despite a chanceless knock against probably the best player I’ve played against. We hope to get back to winning ways next week at home”.
It’s the halfway point of the season next week as we host Seaton who are currently propping up the table without a win. Thors were leapfrogged by Abbotskerswell and drop down to 7th, the 6 bonus points keeping us above Barton, Kilmington and Seaton.
Thorverton Cricket Club 