Off the back of 2 wins, a much changed 1st XI were hosting Torquay at Station Ground.
The team:
A.Pitt, D.Robbins, A.Chilcott, J.Geraghty, H. Choules+, D.Baldock, L.Vukusic, G.Daldorph, B.Heard, A.Gibbons, J. Choules*.
Due to a lack of coin, the toss was done with the umpire’s Exeter Chief’s keyring; the away skipper calling correctly and electing to bat.
With Slaverio unavailable, Daldorph took the first over from the river end and Geraghty was trusted with the new ball from the pavilion end. Both sides would have been reasonably happy with the first 10 overs as the score reached 38-0.
Thors opted to stick with seam as Robbins and Gibbons were introduced next with Gibbons striking in his first over for the 1st XI – removing the left handed Tim Western.
Jono Colgate came in at 3 and wasn’t smiling when he went shortly after for 1. Gibbons now with 2 wickets on debut as the score reached 65-2 at the first drinks (17 overs).
The skipper replaced Robbins at the pavilion and as he and Gibbons kept things reasonably tight. The score trickled along to 108-2 at halfway.
As Torquay sought to accelerate in the 2nd half, overseas pro Terblanche passed 50. He was dropped on the fence off Choules shortly afterwards.
Ex Torquay skipper Chris Kelmere also passed 50, managing to strike Gibbons for 6 in his final over, not fully ruining solid debut figures of 2-47 from 10.
Pitt replaced Gibbons and struck twice in 2 balls in his second over with the hat trick ball squeezing through the slips.
Choules finally had a wicket in the next over, his last, finishing with 1-42. With 10 overs to go the score was 185-5 but crucially Terblance was still there.
After passing his hundred the South African accelerated exponentially – making the most of being dropped twice more. In the last ten Thors rotated the bowling but the tightest over we could muster still had 6 off it. Thanks to 17 off the penultimate and 24 off the last, Torquay finished on exactly 300. Thors taking 7 wickets.
After a great tea from super-mum Chloe Robbins, husband Dan and Andy Pitt set to work, hoping to make use of the early fielding restrictions.
Robbins was caught in the 5th with the score on 25 but the introduction of Chilcott didn’t slow things down as we continued at a solid scoring rate.
With the score at 74-1 at the first drinks, it looked like Thors would at least reach maximum batting points even if 300 was out of reach.
However, with Pitt going the next over for 25 and Jack shortly after, things slowed up.
Nobody in the middle order reached double figures and by the time 27 overs had passed the score was 106-5.
2 more fell in the 31st over and despite Chilcott still being in, our fate had pretty much been sealed.
When Chilly went for 31 the score was 125-8 and the target quickly became 150 which was the next available batting point. Gibbons came and went leaving the final pair of Heard and Choules requiring 20 to earn Thors another point.
Heard ticked some runs over whilst Choules blocked out opposite number Baxendale’s final over out to prevent his 5fa. However Heard played on for 13 in the 40th over and Thors were 139 all out.
The home side crashed down to earth with a bump with a stark reminder that catches win matches and the loss of quick wickets loses them.
Next week is a trip to Hatherleigh who are new to the division following relegation from the Premier.
The skipper was brief in his comments:
“Far from ideal dropping their overseas 3 times. Would probably have been chasing under 250 and might’ve been very different. Saying that, Torquay are a strong outfit and we didn’t apply ourselves with the bat either. Hoping to see a reaction next week.”
Thorverton Cricket Club 