It was another grey day in the Devon Cricket League as the 1s made the relatively short trip to Clyst St George.
There were 2 changes to the side:
L.Vukusic, G.Greed, A.Chilcott, J.Geraghty, H.Choules+, B.Coe, B.Heard, G.Daldorph, A.Jopling, B.Slaviero, J.Choules.
The rain stayed away for the most part as the hosts won the toss and somewhat surprisingly elected to bat. Slaviero and Daldorph got to work and with Slavs opting to bowl down the slope it gave George a rare opportunity to bowl with the wind.
The pair picked up where they left off in recent weeks bowling disciplined areas and making batters work hard for any runs. It wasn’t long before Daldorph had his first as a loose shot from Bunker met the outside edge.
Freddie Creer was next to go as George cleaned him up. In his next over some quick reactions from Daldorph met the end of the host’s skipper Kendall who was caught and bowled after a couple of attempts. George had 4 when he bowled Wells first ball and an aggressive field was set for the hat trick/potential 5th wicket ball. It wasn’t to be as opposition overseas, Ronaldo Callender, defended well but significant damage had already been done at 10-4.
Slaviero got in on the act when he snicked off left handed opener Donovan for 13 – the 2nd of what would be 4 catches from Harry Choules.
With Clyst at 29-5, the skipper replaced Slaviero at the Pavillion End fancying his chances against the aggressive Ronaldo. He was proved correct first ball as Greed took a simple catch at backward point.
George continued to toil in search of his 5fa and it wasn’t until his final over that he could find Ferro’s outside edge. H. Choules with another diving grab and George had 5-20 from his 10. Clyst in trouble at 33-7.
The 8th wicket partnership proved to be a frustrating one for the visitors as Par Singh and Ewan Cragg shut up shop for the hosts. Choules and Jopling toiled – bowling 7 maidens between them but not able to find the wicket. Jop came the closest when a chance went down at short mid wicket.
After 7 overs from the skipper Heard was introduced down the slope and showed encouraging turn and bounce for no reward. By the time Jops was bowled out he had only gone for 16 runs from his 10.
Going into closing stages Cragg found some shots, particularly through mid wicket, and for the first time in the game there was some pressure on the visitors. Geraghty replaced Heard and Thors finally had the breakthrough with help from a one handed diver by H. Choules. Clyst 91-8 – Singh dismissed for 20 from 91 deliveries.
Bertie Creer came to the crease at number 10 and showed the most intent of all the home batters striking the first 6 of the day. The scoring rate increased in the closing stages albeit Heard was able to keep it tight in the final over. It was to be an odd over where Cragg poked a single into the offside to reach his 50 on the penultimate ball and Creer defended the final ball of the innings. Would Clyst regret not taking some more risks at the last?
The target was 127 to win as Vukusic and the returning Greed got to work. Ronaldo and Donovan kept it tight for the hosts but the pair looked comfortable until Vukusic was caught in the gully looking to drive Donovan. The seamer had Chilcott LBW next as he looked to flick off his legs.
At 12-2 Thors were under no illusions it was to be a tough chase in tricky conditions. Geraghty and Greed calmed the nerves though, pouncing on any width and Geraghty taking the game to Ronaldo, resulting in the field being pushed back and singles subsequently easier to come by.
In Ronaldo’s final over of off spin he went round the wicket to the right handed Greed who was adjudged LBW for a well made 18. Thors 42-3.
H. Choules and Geraghty added another 15 before the former was bowled by Singh which brought Coe to the crease. Coe showed his usual patience as Geraghty, after coming through some early LBW appeals, now looked like he was batting on a different wicket to anybody else.
With Thors into the 80s, Bertie Creer was introduced with the wind and the seamer bowled with a decent pace and got the ball to nibble off of the pitch. This was the undoing for Coe and at 82-5 nerves in the hutch started to creep back in.
Heard and Geraghty had other ideas though and despite some good bowling from Clyst, the pair looked comfortable. Creer learnt the hard way not to bowl short to an Australian as anything back of a length was pummelled to the rope by Jack.
As the total passed 100 and Jack passed 50 Thors were back on track. However it wouldn’t be Thorverton without another twist and after doing all of the hard work Heard walked past one and was stumped for 4 from 30 balls.
Next over saw another boundary for Jack followed by a single but Daldorph then fell first ball and it was 113-7.
With 14 needed to win Jopling was solid in defence against the short ball of Creer and spin of Singh. Another boundary for Jack relieved any final lingering doubts and the Aussie eventually got us over the line in style with a crucial 80 not out.
17 points for Thors as we make it 3 wins in a row. With 3 games to go we sit 31 points behind the promotion places and 46 clear of the drop zone.
Thorverton Cricket Club 