There was 1 change to the first XI that should have played Tavistock last week when the 1s hosted high flying Torquay: D.Robbins, A.Pitt, L.Vukusic, B.Coetzee, H.Choules+, G.Daldorph, B.Heard, H.Squire, B.Slaviero, A.Jopling, J.Choules*.
The pitch looked a good one and confident it wouldn’t deteriorate much throughout the day, the skipper elected to bowl at the toss. With Daldorph still recovering from a side injury, teenager Henry Squire opened up with Slaviero. The pair beat the bat a couple of times but it wasn’t long before the Torquay openers took the attack to Thors. Chris Kelmere doing most of the damage by using his feet to great effect. Harry Choules helped pin things back by coming up to the stumps but Torquay still reached 34-0 from 6.
Struggling from illness, Squire was replaced by Vukusic at the River End and by now Slaviero had found great rhythm and beat the bat more regularly. Meanwhile there was a chance for Vukusic when Kelmere hit one slightly too high and hard for the skipper to cling on at Mid On. After 6 overs from the Pavilion End, Slaviero was replaced by Robbins who got the breakthrough when he cleaned up Tim Western. 55-1 from 13.
After a couple of tight overs, South African professional Roux joined Kelmere in finding the boundary regularly. With the total reaching 96-1, Jopling and Choules were introduced to try some spin. There was a boundary ball an over, however, and Kelmere passed his half century as the score reached 134-1 at halfway.
Desperate to slow things down, Slaviero bowled a couple of overs from the Pavilion End before being replaced by Robbins again and Choules tried his luck from the River End. It was a tighter period for Thors but was overshadowed by a few more tough chances going down. With 12 overs to go, Torquay brought up their 200 and Kelmere passed a well deserved century.
With Robbins bowled out and Roux starting to take a liking to Choules, Squire and Vukusic were reintroduced going into the last 10. Vukusic’s overs in particular were eventful with a couple of boundaries, overthrows and eventually the demise of Roux for a run a ball 85 as the skipper held on at Mid On this time. Opposition skipper Passenger waited a long time to come in but was cleaned up by Vukusic 2nd ball after snicking his first for 4.
255-3 became 255-4 when Squire got in on the act cleaning up Blaise Baker for an uneventful 0. He had another next over as he snicked off the number 6, albeit Kelmere was still finding the boundary regularly at the other end. Slaviero finally dismissed the centurion in the penultimate over for a punishing 149 from 156 balls who received applause and handshakes all round as he left the field. Torquay finished 294-6.
After a plentiful Heard tea, Pitt and Robbins got on with the challenging task of chasing them down. Robbins showed intent sticking his first ball for 4 but was caught out trying to go again 2nd ball.
Incoming Vukusic and Pitt were undeterred and kept the scoreboard ticking along, finding the boundary regularly and aided by plenty of extras from the visitors. The total was 53-2 when Vukusic played on in the 10th over.
Coetzee got off the mark with a well timed boundary and followed up with another to keep things moving along. Pitt was also looking comfortable, timing and running well. Coetzee seemed to only be dealing in boundaries when he despatched Hearn for a couple more boundaries. Unfortunately the encouraging partnership couldn’t make it to the first (17 over) drinks break when Pitt played on to, you guessed it, Kelmere who was having some day. Pitt with a well made 42 to put him back to the top of the Thors run scoring table for the season. There was time for another Coetzee boundary before drinks – 94-3.
Harry Choules understandably tried to give Coetzee most of the strike but a good turning ball from Passenger was his undoing as the total reached 123-4 approaching halfway. Coetzee brought up a well deserved half century at the halfway mark but was bowled next over in a damaging blow for Thors.
Heard and Daldorph had plenty of time to show their talents, however, using their feet well to show off their full range of shots. With 20 to go Thors reached 148-5. That became 167-6 when Heard fell with 15 to go as attention started to turn to bonus points as opposed to the significant target for the first time.
Torquay would have remembered Squire from runs in the return fixture and he supported Daldorph well as the total approached 200. The milestone was reached in the 45th over and Daldorph attempted to get on with things after that, but was caught on the edge of the ring for a well made 37. Slaviero came and went the same over – 200-8.
It was Jopling’s turn to support Squire who found the boundary a couple of times including a 6 over square leg – until Jops was caught trying to copy. The skipper and Squire (31*) negotiated an uneventful final couple of overs as Thors finished on a respectable 221-9.
An improved batting performance from Thors and if one of the starts had been able to push on, you feel we would have run Torquay close. A useful 7 bonus points and a bit of confidence were gained as we prepare to host Kilmington next week.
Thank you to Bob Rice for a busy day in the scorebox and Louise Heard on teas.
Thorverton Cricket Club 