After the washout at Exmouth last week, the cricket season finally got underway at Kensham Park against the newly amalgamated & current Premier Division champions Bradninch & Kentisbeare. With an ominous looking sky & a bleak forecast for the afternoon, captains Jake Choules & Gary Chappell agreed a T20 should take place rather than the planned 45 overs to ensure both sides benefitted from a chance to both bat & bowl.
Choules won the toss and elected to bat. Thors lined up as a XII – A.Pitt, D.Robbins, B.Coe, J.Geraghty, H.Choules+, L.Vukusic, S.Jefferson, G.Daldorph, J.Porter, B.Slaviero, J.Choules*, J.Stirling.
Pitt & Robbins opened the season for Thors, Mitch Pugh bowling a maiden at Pitt & newly acquired overseas player Yuvraj Singh conceded just three off his first over to leave Thors 3-0 after 2. Pitt was the first to go, impatiently gifting a catch to Josh Farley off the bowling of Pugh for 1.
Robbins upped the rate with a flurry of boundaries including a six over deep backward square before falling to an outstanding diving catch at midwicket by Elliot Acton, running around from mid on. Robbins out for 22 off 14 & Yuvraj Singh had his first wicket on English soil, leaving Thors 31-2 after 5.
Coe & Geraghty quietly offered some stability to the innings before Coe was caught by Thacker off the bowling of Ross Acton for 12 from 19. Harry Choules joined Geraghty as the visitors reached 43-3 at the halfway mark. The pair ran well with intent before Choules fell to Farley, caught Chappell for 7 from 17.
Geraghty went on the attack against the change bowlers, ably supported by Luke Vukusic. Both timed the ball superbly, Geraghty finding the boundary regularly courtesy of some superb late cuts.
Thors pushed through to the final two overs with the score at 93-4. Vukusic was bowled by the returning Singh for a well made 17 from 19. Geraghty hit a couple more boundaries & Thors finished on 109-6 after Jefferson was stumped for 1 off Farley. Geraghty 40 not out from 37, an impressive first knock on English soil.
Bradninch opened the reply with the experienced Chappell & Piper taking the attack to the new ball pairing of Slaviero & Daldorph, adding 36-0 off the first four overs; Piper in particular timing the ball well and finding the boundary three times from Daldorph’s first over. Chappell (14 from 16) was the first man to go, caught by Robbins at slip after Slaviero found the outside edge to make it 36-1.
Yuvraj Singh came in at three as Choules replaced Daldorph. Slaviero picked up his second wicket as Piper (20 from 12) pulled him to the safe hands of Geraghty at deep midwicket. Singh (6 from 15) followed in the next over, smashing Choules down Porter’s throat at deep midwicket after the pressure had built.
After Slaviero had bowled 4 overs straight through (2-14), a solitary over for Daldorph conceding just one allowed a change of ends for Choules & Stirling came into the attack & immediately struck to remove Ross Acton caught behind for 5, the hosts 50-4 at the halfway stage.
A couple of tight overs followed from the spin pairing, Eliot Acton & Pugh struggling to get the ball away. The pressure became too much for Pugh (9 from 23) as he smashed Choules to Pitt at extra cover in his last over, finishing with figures of 2-21 from his four over. Stirling bowled Farley for 0 in the next over to leave Bradninch 67-6.
Ankit Badwal joint Acton and both released the pressure with their usual attacking intent, taking 11 from a sole Vukusic over, then 13 from Stirling’s last over (2-24), leaving the hosts requiring 15 from the last 4 overs.
Robbins replaced Vukusic and conceded 9 from the next. Acton (25 from & Badwal (16 from ) retired not out.
Pitt (1-5) took the wicket of the incoming Darren Paul (stumped Choules for 4) after he had reverse swept him for four to virtually seal the game. Daldorph (1-25)then bowled Thacker for 1 before the winning runs were hit with Bradninch 8 wickets down & 8 balls to spare. Thors allowed Bradninch to bat out their overs to allow extra time in the middle. The rain started within 5 minutes of the games conclusion, proving a T20 had been the best option.
Thors skipper Jake Choules:- “Huge thanks to Bradninch for getting the game on. I felt it was a useful pre season run out for both sides. Jack was impressive, timing the ball well on a difficult pitch. Hopefully we started to shake off some rustiness in the field with Jack Stirling being pick of the bowlers for me. Hopeful of a longer run out at home to Sandford next week”
All credit must go to Bradninch & Kentisbeare’s groundsman for making the ground playable. Thanks to Rich Lloyd and Jimmy May for braving the at times Arctic elements & scoring & umpiring.
Next up for Thors is a 50 over home friendly against Premier Division runners up Sandford next Saturday (29th) as we play the first fixture on our newly relaid square.
Thorverton Cricket Club 