There were 3 changes for 1s who were playing at home for the first time in 5 weeks who lined up with: L. Vukusic, D. Robbins, A. Kingdon, S. Yelverton, H. Choules+, G. Daldorph, A. Pitt, S. Jefferson, B. Slaviero, A. Jopling, J. Choules*.
The visitors won the toss and elected to bat on a hot day at Station Ground. They negotiated the early exchanges calmly with Daldorph and Slaviero beating the outside edge on occasion. Pile in particular scored through third man and George had him put down in the slips early on as Kilmington reached 26-0 after the 10 over powerplay.
Yelverton replaced Slaviero at the Pavilion End, also keeping things tight, but opener Gooding tried to increase the rate when Choules replaced Daldorph. He capitalised with a couple of maximums over deep mid wicket as the total got to 56-0 at the 17 over drinks break.
The skipper turned back to pace via Vukusic after drinks but it was Yelverton who had the crucial Gooding (41) wicket when he dislodged his stumps. Cann subsequently joined Pile and the run rate slowed once again. Thors rotated the bowling in the middle session with bursts from Slaviero, Jopling and Robbins with boundaries few and far between. Jopling came closest when Cann was also put down as the score got into the 120s heading into the final 16 over session.
The reintroduction of Daldorph was the undoing of Cann, LBW, while Robbins removed the stubborn Pile for 45 from 96 balls next over. The experienced Seward and overseas Aussie Cucontis now in with the score 152-3 with 10 to go. The pair ran well to up the rate but boundaries were still a relative rarity with the bowling continuing to rotate and generally keeping things tight. In the last 5, the Aussie had more luck as he squeezed Yelverton for a couple of boundaries and found some joy scooping Daldorph while Slaviero removed Seward to secure a second bowling point in the penultimate over. George did well to keep the last over to 8 runs after a boundary first ball. Kilmington posting 217-4 from their 50 which felt below par on a hot day on a good pitch.
After a plentiful Robbins tea, he got to work on the chase with the also in-form Vukusic. The pair had a look at the opening bowling of Reed and Fuzzard but the first couple of overs were about as good as it got for the visitors before Robbins nonchalantly dismissed Reed’s second for 16. Vukusic was happy to give Robbins the strike early on as the pair ran well and Robbins hit regular boundaries to all parts of the ground in the opening stages. Kilmington turned to Cucontis early but the experiment was short lived when he was hit for 24 including extras. There was then a flurry of 1 over spells that couldn’t stem Robbins as the score raced to 86-0 from 10.
Robbins brought up his 50 shortly after the powerplay then had his first maximum when a Cann full toss was hit over the road. Vukusic started to get in on the act as the opening stand passed three figures when he drove Fuzzard for 4 in just the 13th over – an over that went for 19.
Seward and Crabb finally started to tighten things up for Kilmington but there was still opportunity for Robbins to sweep the former over mid wicket for 6 more before drinks to go into the 80s. Vukusic fell just before drinks for a useful 25 as Kingdon joined Robbins. The tighter bowling had further reward when Kingdon walked off after edging Seward behind until Yelverton got off the mark with a 4 first ball.
Robbins negotiated the 90s cautiously until another comprehensive pull for 4 brought him to 98. A couple of singles in the 25th over brought up the blistering century from just 77 balls – to the delight of teammates and spectators at Station Ground. He somehow found another gear when he crunched the next Seward over for 18 as the score reached 192-2 from 26.
Yelverton also seemed to be in a hurry as he hit 3 boundaries himself a couple of overs later including a dismissive pull to bring Thors within 20. Eventually Robbins holed out to mid off in the 30th over for a memorable 121 from 93 balls in a commanding display.
There were no further scares as H. Choules and Yelverton got Thors over the line, finished off with one final boundary by the latter who ended 37 not out.
Thors pick up 17 points and finish the first half of the season 3rd in the A Division ladder. Next week we host bottom side Barton at Station Ground.
Thorverton Cricket Club 