After a defeat to Exeter last time out, Thors were looking to get back to winning ways in the Covid Cup as we hosted fellow A Division outfit Clyst St George.
On a cloudy but dry Station Ground, the side was:- L.Vukusic, B.Wakeley, H.Choules, J.Porter, C.Winzer, J.Geraghty, B.Heard, B.Slaviero, A.Gibbons, S.Tait, J.Choules.
After negotiating the toss Slaviero elected to bowl and opened up with himself and Gibbons. Aggressive left-hander, Donovan, sought to make the most of the Powerplay finding the boundary on a couple of occasions in the opening exchanges.
Gibbons removed Kendall but Clyst had a solid start at 33-1 from 5.
Clyst were unable to build on this as the change bowlers of Geraghty (3-6) and Tait (1-5) kept things extremely tight for the hosts. The latter, fresh off a hat trick for Devon Dumplings the day before, continuing his wicket taking form.
Following 3 overs apiece from the seamers, Choules and Heard were brought into the attack. With Thors very much in the ascendancy, the pair could work on their variations including the infamous Choules leggie.
The hosts continued to pick up wickets at a steady rate and by the time Choules (3-12) was bowled out the score was 62-8.
Heard and Chris Winzer were tasked with bowling the final overs from each end. Both picking up a wicket apiece in the closing exchanges. This included Winzer removing Eliza Heard on the last ball of the innings.
CSG 70 AO from 20 overs.
Vukusic and Wakeley began the chase with the swinging ball from Donovan and spin of Callander making things difficult for Thors in the initial overs.
A good nut from Donovan had Vukusic caught behind but Wakeley and Choules turned the strike over to avoid Thors becoming bogged down.
Callender’s final over saw the end of Wakeley who skied on 13 as the total reached 30-2 after 6.
With the field now spread, Choules and Porter could rotate the strike with ease including some well run 2s. Clyst rotated their bowlers but Choules in particular didn’t allow them to settle, finding the boundary regularly with some well timed drives.
After the halfway point Thors were already closing in on the win and with 8 overs to go Porter struck a 4 through mid wicket to win the game.
Choules finishing with a run a ball 33 and Porter with a well made 14 from 10 balls.
Thank you to Rich Lloyd and Paul Jordan for umpiring and Bob Rice for his work in the scorebox.
Next week we host Exeter in what is likely to be a crucial game in the Covid Cup.
Thorverton Cricket Club 