On another hot Saturday in the Devon League, the 1st XI made the trip to Budleigh Salterton.
Robbins, Pitt & H. Choules returned to the side as we lined up with: Chilcott, Robbins, Coe, Fielder, Van Der Meulen, H. Choules, Pitt, Daldorph, Jopling, Slaviero, J. Choules.
Budleigh won the toss and elected to bat but despite the weather the pitch didn’t look as white and flat as might have been expected and there was a feeling that chasing may bring a change of luck for the Thors.
However, Budleigh shot off to a positive start as the pitch played better than it looked and the rapid outfield helped the ball find the boundary with ease. After 10 overs the hosts were 48-0.
Van Der Meulen was introduced from the pavilion end and his first 3 overs were a clinic in fast bowling. He snicked off Troman and the next over he pinned the dangerous Penberthy-Hutchings in the midriff before the opener skied one which was put down. However, undeterred, Jason had his man caught behind a few balls later. The spell also saw the hosts, overseas star, Perris, dropped at first slip on 0.
Perris and Jack England fought back for the hosts though as the score reached 130-2 when Choules and Jopling were introduced to take the pace off.
Both kept it reasonably tight and England was bowled by Jopling in the 29th over. 2 overs later Robbins kept his head to run the new batter out with help some good hands by Jopling. The score 162-4 in the 30th.
The spin duo continued to toil and Jopling had 2 more when he trapped Oxland LBW before getting dangerman Perris caught at long on for 71.
The leggie then bowled the opposition skipper before completing his 5fa in the 40th over with help from a rapid stumping by Harry Choules.
The score was 209-8 with 9 to go when Jopling and Choules finished their spells and Pitt and Daldroph were tasked with finishing off. 31 more runs were added for one more wicket as the hosts finished on 240-9. A decent fight back by Thorverton.
A slight change to the usual order meant Robbins opened up with Chilcott and the pair got off to a positive start striking 24 from the first 5 overs. Chilcott was then stumped in bizarre fashion before both Robbins and Fielder fell to Doble, the league’s leading wicket taker, the following over. Thors somewhat reeling at 31-3 from 7.
Van der Meulen and the ever-reliable Coe set about steadying the ship just as they did last week and got us to the first drinks break at 82-3 (17 overs).
Just after Thors passed 3 figures Coe was caught and bowled for 15. Harry Choules continued where Coe left off, turning the strike over and allowing Jason to bring up his half century. With 20 over to go Thors were 126-4 and requiring around a run a ball to win.
However with the score on 130 the hosts had the big Van der Meulen wicket, LBW for 70. Pitt and Choules looked comfortable but Pitt skied one on 10 as the score reached 150-6 with 15 to go.
A solid partnership between Choules and Daldorph had their teammates quietly whispering about the pair’s Corinthian Cup Final heroics last year. Thors required 55 from the last 10.
Choules was caught in the 43rd for a well made 37 with the score now 199-7. Another big wicket for the hosts.
Due to the latter picking up a calf tweak in the field, Jopling went in ahead of Slaviero at 9. He got the score past 200 but fell soon after.
Thors had reached 204-8 going into the final 5 but Perris had found some extra pace and clean bowled Daldorph for 28.
Budleigh were behind on over rate so experienced operater Joel Murphy had to rush through the 47th over to prevent a potential 18 penalty runs. However this was immaterial as last man Jake Choules skied a slower ball long hop, somehow only as far as short mid wicket. Thors had lost by 30 runs.
Another tight game at this level as we left the seaside with 8 bonus points. Thank you to Jimmy & Isaac May for their scoring and to the Thor’s spectators that made the trip.
The skipper:
“We can be proud of our recoveries from 150-2 in the first innings and 30-3 in the second but we need to put in more complete performances to get us over the line. We are good enough to compete at this level and a couple of wins in the next 2 or 3 weeks will take the pressure off”.
Next up we look to do the double over city side Exeter at Station Ground.
Thorverton Cricket Club 