The first XI made the first of many long trips this season with a visit to Plymouth for the DCL opener. The fixture was rained off last season but a couple of days of good weather meant there was no such risk this time around.
The team was: A.Pitt, L.Vukusic, A.Chilcott, B.Coetzee, H.Choules+, G.Greed, S.Jefferson, B.Heard, B.Slaviero, J.Broom, J.Choules*.
With a bit of dampness still in the square, the hosts elected to field after winning the toss. The opposition skipper, Stein, opened from the Pavilion End instantly getting the new cherry to swing but Pitt held firm. Plymouth opted to open with spin from the City End with Saleem offering plenty of extras to get the scoreboard ticking over from the start.
Pitt and Vukusic punished a couple of looseners which meant Plymouth went with a more defensive field early on, allowing the pair to rotate the strike with relative ease.
Thors rode our luck at times with a couple of drop catches but the relaxed opening pair saw off the opening bowlers and opening powerplay at a healthy 4 an over.
Shortly after bringing up the 50 partnership, Pitt (22) played on to Randev who proved to be the pick of the Plymouth bowlers. Chilcott hung around for a few overs, ensuring there wouldn’t be quick wickets, but eventually Randev had his second when Chilly was caught behind.
In stepped overseas import Brendan Coetzee who timed the ball from the off as he and Vukusic brought the score to 80-2 at the halfway point.
The duo looked more and more comfortable, running well and putting away the bad ball as the 100 came up, Luke reaching his half century in the process.
It took the opposition skipper bringing himself back on for the city side to remove Vukusic, LBW for 56. Harry Choules picked up were Luke left off though, crunching a couple of cover drives to get himself going.
He and Brendan ran well as the host’s frustration began to show, not helped by a couple of lost balls as Choules punished anything short of a length.
Going into the latter stages, Brendan also looked to up the rate but was eventually caught for a well made 31. Thors now 176-4 going into the final overs. The oldest player in the team joining Choules at the crease didn’t slow the rate as Greed & Choules continued to scamper plenty of 2s, the latter passing 50 in the process.
Randev bowled veteran Greed for a run a ball 13 before it was Jefferson’s turn to support Choules. A useful 14 runs were added by the pair before Randev had his 4th and Heard strolled in during the final over.
Some tight death bowling from the hosts restricted Thors to 221-6 from their 50 overs which was a total the skipper would’ve taken when the coin landed on tails at the toss.
With no teas on offer, Thorvy were keen to get on with the defence. Slaviero took the Pavilion End whilst Broom took the City End after an impressive pre season. Slavs kept it tight in his usual fashion, beating the outside edge on plenty of occasions. Broom also caused problems for the Plymouth openers, Randev and Phillips, albeit the pair began to punish anything back of a length once they got used to the tennis ball bounce like surface.
After jarring his back after his 4th over, Broom was replaced by Pitt who despite a couple of extras to start kept things tight for Thors. The villagers tried to repay Plymouth’s hospitality in terms of dropped catches as one went down in the slips and another on the rope but the run rate remained slow.
After 6 tight overs, Slaviero was replaced by Heard who also held the hosts below the required rate. Wickets were appearing hard to come by, however, and with the score in the 70s as we approached halfway, the skipper replaced Heard to try to prize a wicket before drinks.
He was successful when a tired Phillips was bowled for 35. Haffenden negotiated the final 5 balls before the drinks break with the total at 83-1.
Choules had another soon after drinks thanks to a simple catch from Heard. With Randev out for 40, the visitors had 2 new bats to target.
Pitt and Choules continued to restrict the runs, with help from their fielders who turned 2s into 1s and 1s into dots. Haffenden and Stein were resisting though, the skipper in particular looking dangerous after finding the boundary on a couple of occasions.
However, he was eventually caught by Vukusic and Thors smelt blood. Pitt finished his 10 overs going at less than 4 an over and Coetzee picked up where he left off, keeping things tight from the City End.
A smart grab from Chilcott at Mid On gave Choules his 4th before Brendan got in on the act, this time it was Jefferson’s turn to pouch.
Choules had his 5fa when Witcher skied one that didn’t make it out of the ring – his spirits dampened when he was reminded that he took himself out of his fantasy XI the night before.
Plymouth were now reeling at 137-6 going into the final 10 and whilst they showed good resistance down the order, the damage had been done. Slaviero and Coetzee closed things out with defensive fields, Slav picking up a deserved wicket when Hughes was caught behind for 30.
With Thors needing another wicket for a 4th bowling bonus point, Heard was reintroduced for the final over. The youngster delivered – twice in 2 balls – as Plymouth ended their 50 overs 197-9.
Thors win by 24 runs and pick up 18 points to get the season off to a flier.
The skipper concluded:
“Very proud as despite some rustiness it was a blueprint of how I want us to play our cricket this season. Especially pleased with batting the overs and not losing wickets in clumps. Harry and Luke were the standouts but there were useful contributions throughout the line up. Felt we were about par but I always back us to defend most totals.”
Huge thanks to Bob Rice for making the trip to Plymouth to score.
The 1s have back to back home games next, starting with newly promoted Plymstock on Saturday.
Thorverton Cricket Club 