Back Row L-R: Billy Wakeley, Jack Stirling, Harry Choules, Andy Pitt, Eliza Heard.
Front Row: Sam Jefferson, Bobby Heard, Stuart Tait, Shane Yelverton (front), Luke Vukusic, George Daldorph.
Thors arrived at Kensham Park knowing a win over Bradninch & Kentisbeare would see them build an unassailable lead over second placed Exeter in the Covid Cup & ensure the retainment of the trophy following the victories in 2020 & 2022.
Captain for the evening, Andy Pitt, won the toss & elected to bat. The visitors line-up:- A.Pitt*, L.Vukusic, B.Wakeley, H.Choules+, S.Jefferson, G.Daldorph, B.Heard, S.Yelverton, E.Heard, J.Stirling, S.Tait.
After a slightly delayed start as the final players filtered into the ground, Pitt & Vukusic opened proceedings. A tight over from Bradninch’s Delhi import Yuvraj Singh saw Thors 2-0 after the first. Tom Kittow took the new pink ball from the other end & removed the skipper with a back of a length ball outside off stump which Pitt tried to pull into neighbouring Hele & a feather through to Darren Paul behind the stumps saw Thors 11-1 after 2 overs.
Billy Wakeley came to the crease in his first game back at his former club, taking an impressive 18 off Kittow’s second over, courtesy of a couple of lovely cuts & a couple of flicks off his legs. Singh continued to stem the flow of runs before the spin of Holding saw 15 conceded off his first, taking the visitors to 57-1 at the end of the powerplay.
Vukusic found the boundary a couple of times before falling leg before to Holding for 24 (23). Holding then struck again to remove Wakeley LBW for a well made 43 from 26. Incoming Jefferson followed caught behind without troubling the scorers & Thors were 90-4 after 11.
That soon became 91-5 as Choules coughed one up to Piper off new bowler Findlay to depart for 6. Daldorph, in at 6, hit a couple of boundaries before slapping Josh Farley to mid off; 102-6 with still 7 overs to go.
Bobby Heard & Shane Yelverton set about the rebuild, rotating the strike well and finding regular boundaries. 129-6 with 4 to go.
An onslaught from Yelverton in particular saw 17 come off Peter Kittow’s second over & 20 off his third to see Thors into a more comfortable position. 13 off the last over from Chris Acton saw the visitors recover to a more than respectable 188-6. Yelverton 45* from 24 & Heard 29* from 23.
Tim Piper & Darren Paul opened up against the new ball pairing of Daldorph & E.Heard, reaching 15-0 after two. A couple of boundaries off Daldorph’s second over & two sixes and three fours from Piper off Heard brought the 50 up for the hosts with just 23 balls bowled, before Piper cut the last ball of Heard’s second over straight to a kneeling down Wakeley at cover. Piper with an aggressive 31 from 14.
Tait came into the attack & kept things tight, leading to Ross Acton being run out without facing a ball, thanks to a smart bit of fielding by Bobby Heard at backward point. Paul & Pugh kept things moving as Ninch reached 62-2 at the end of the powerplay.
A double of Yelverton & Stirling was introduced and immediately paid dividends as they both struck in their first overs. Pugh caught Pitt, bowled Yelverton for 9 & Choules stumping Paul off Stirling for 37. 84-4 after 9.
Yuvraj Singh & Josh Farley rotated the strike nicely and found the boundary at decent intervals to take the score up to 134-5 with 5 to go. 55 needed from 30 balls.
Daldorph replaced Yelverton & removed Farley with the second ball of his return, Farley timing a flick off his legs backward off Jefferson at square leg. Jefferson dived full stretch to grab the ball one handed, merely an inch off the ground to complete one of the best catches you will see in amateur cricket. Farley gone for 14. Heard replaced Stirling & conceded 7 off his first; 144-5. 45 needed from 24.
That soon became 32 required from 22 as following a wide from Pitt’s first ball, Yuvraj Singh planted Pitt twice into the car park to pass his 50 off 32 balls. It was third time unlucky for Singh who smashed the ball down Vukusic’s throat at deep mid-wicket. 162-6 with two to go & 27 needed.
Heard took a deserved wicket, Choules stumping the charging Findlay for 6 & only conceded one from the penultimate over to all but see the game out. Tait tied things up for Thors, only conceding two off the last; Holding run out by Daldorph in the process. Thors winners by 23 runs and retained the Covid Cup for the third edition in a row (2021 was curtailed due to the pandemic).
Other players to have featured in the Cup Winning squad but not photographed – Jake Choules, Ben Slaviero, Jack Geraghty, Jason Van Der Meulen, Dan Robbins, George Greed, Alex Jopling, Jacob Broom, Alistair Chilcott, Ben Coe, Jay Porter, Alex Gibbons, Chris Winzer.
Thank you to Alan for umpiring & any supporters who have watched our Covid Cup games at home.
Thanks must also go to Eliot Acton to once again arranging the competition. We look forward to trying to keep hold of the trophy next season.
Thorverton Cricket Club 