Following last week’s rain off, a youthful Thorverton team that consisted of 5 teenagers made the trip to Premier Division Exmouth in the Devon T20 Cup.
The line up that would face a full strength Exmouth XI was: B.Coe, B.Coetzee, J.Baker, H.Choules+, H.Squire, T.Byrne, O.Hawke, J.Meredith, B.Slaviero, S.Tait, J.Choules*.
The skipper lost the toss and the hosts unsurprisingly elected to bat in what looked to be favourable batting conditions. Slaviero got Thors off to a good start, bowling opener Morrison in the first over but the site of overseas professional Jason Niemand strolling in to join England Deaf captain George Greenway was enough to keep celebrations muted.
Greenway took a liking to Tait, striking 3 boundaries in his first over before Slaviero removed him, also bowled, in his second over as the score raced to 21-2 from 3 overs – the hosts aided by some aggressive running. Niemand then took the role of the aggressor, striking Tait then Slaviero for a couple of boundaries apiece whilst taking full advantage of the early fielding restrictions. There was frustration for Thors when Slaviero did find the pro’s outside edge but even that ran away for 4.
Squire closed out the Powerplay reasonably tightly from the Pavilion End albeit left hander Dan Pyle struck his first boundary of the evening. Exmouth 45-2 from 6.
Pyle then had the first maximum when the skipper brought himself on as the former Shobrooke man went big over mid off. The skipper nearly had Niemand when he skied one into an agonising gap but Thors were made to pay instantly as it was followed up by a couple more boundaries.
All the while, Squire was toiling at the Pavilion End and had his reward when he bowled Pyle for 32 from 19 balls at the halfway stage. Exmouth 102-2 and 200 very much on the cards.
The skipper was replaced by Coetzee who had the task of a now full throttle Niemand who passed his half century with a maximum. Squire closed out his 4 over allocation with figures of 1-33 before Coetzee struck twice in the 13th over which included the prize wicket of Niemand with help from safe hands by Tom Byrne. Exmouth 134-5, Niemand 69 from just 37 balls.
Tait was reintroduced from the Pavilion End and almost instantly removed Adley to give Thors a 6th as the run flow finally showed signs of slowing, albeit Devon captain James Horler was strolling in at Number 8. Tait and housemate Coetzee bowled well in tandem though until Coetzee had his 3rd when Kidd was removed for 14.
Senior players Choules and Slaviero were tasked with closing out the final 3 overs. Horler dispatched the skipper for 6 before being caught on the square leg boundary thanks to safe hands from Coetzee.
Lawrence Greenway made the mistake of running down the track to Slaviero who soon found his off stump dislodged. With Exmouth 9 down, Choules put a small amount of pride into his figures when he restricted the final over to 4 runs and picked up the final wicket on the penultimate ball thanks to sharp work behind by brother Harry.
After a quick turnaround, Coe and Coetzee set about the required 178 to win. George Greenway had other ideas and bowled with good pace to keep things tight, albeit pushing the offside wide line on occasion.
Can Kidd also kept things tight for Mouth and the first boundary didn’t come until the 3rd over when Coe ran Greenway down to fine leg. Exmouth showed real quality in the field and had probably already saved 10 runs from fielding alone by this point.
Coe went in the 4th over as Kidd got one to move off the seam so in strode Baker fresh from his 66* in the 2s on Saturday. He and Coetzee rotated the strike as the change bowlers were introduced, Baker finding the boundary at the end of the Powerplay as Thors reached 22-1 with a lot of work to do in the remaining overs.
Former skipper Lawrence Greenway in particular kept things tight for Exmouth as the total reached 43-1 at halfway. When brother George and Cam Kidd were reintroduced before the light became an issue, Thors were aided by a few extras and a boundary apiece from Coetzee and Baker who appeared more at ease by now. Eventually L. Greenway had Coetzee for 21 in the 13th over which was quickly followed by the removal of Baker by Brenton next over. The writing appeared to be on the wall at 69-3 with 6 to go.
There was positive time in the middle for H. Choules and H. Squire though, with the latter continuing his good form, timing the ball well and running hard until he was caught in the 16th over after a short cameo. Byrne then came and went as the total reached 85-5.
Choules didn’t take too kindly to the introduction of usual wicket-keeper Horler who was suitably dispatched over the square leg boundary. Choules followed up with a 4, then a single to give Ollie Hawke some good experience in the middle.
Choules (26*) had another maximum in the penultimate over when Morrison was hit over extra cover. It was followed up by a couple of singles apiece for he and Hawke before the latter was bowled on the penultimate ball of the innings. Meredith saw out the final ball as Thorverton finished up 69 runs short of Exmouth’s total.
The youthful XI showed great character to pull things back first innings but ultimately the experience and quality of Exmouth showed including some high level fielding in the second innings.
T20 action will return in a few weeks time when Thors seek to yet again defend the Covid Cup.
Thorverton Cricket Club 