There were 3 changes for the 1st XI who took on second place Hatherleigh in a top of the table clash. Team: L. Vukusic, D. Robbins, A. Kingdon, S. Yelverton, H. Choules+, G. Daldorph, S. Jefferson, B. Heard, B. Slaviero, A. Jopling, J. Choules*.
A minute silence was held pre match in memory of Devon Cricket legend David. Gambie.
After winning the toss, Thorverton would bat first on the hottest Saturday of the year so far. The in-form Vukusic put away three boundaries in the opening over to give his side an instant advantage. He found the boundary again a couple of overs later when Robbins also got in on the act while the opening stand was aided by 5 wides to race to 39-0 from 7 overs before Robbins was caught behind. Kingdon then came and went, falling in the final ball of the opening powerplay as the total reached 44-2.
Vukusic and Yelverton rotated the strike well, pushing for 2s inside the relatively small boundaries as the hosts went defensive with their fields. Just after the 17 over drinks break, Vukusic pulled a ball for 6 past the pavilion and into the car park to move to 48. A spare ball was required and it was the undoing of Vukusic who was caught behind next ball. H. Choules joined Yelverton who had his own maximum when he dispatched Wood square of the wicket. The left hand / right hand pair continued to accumulate and reached a solid 107-3 at the halfway point.
They continued scoring at a comfortable 5 an over without taking many risks before seeking to up the rate as we entered the last 20, Shane bringing up his half century in the process. Choules was eventually caught on the rope for a useful 31 as the total reached 146-4 with 15 to go.
The big wicket of Daldorph came a couple of overs later when Ghosh got one to turn heavily and come back through the gate. Yelverton, however, did well to keep the pressure on the hosts with an array of boundaries around the ground. The saffa took a particular liking to Presswell with one six going out of the ground and over the adjacent A Road. 175-5 became 178-6 when Jefferson was undone by a smart diving catch.
Bobby Heard joined Shane and as he strolled in he revealed that he hadn’t netted for a few weeks but felt confident thanks to plenty of shadow batting. His confidence wasn’t misplaced as he and Shane rotated well with the latter continuing to find the boundary regularly. Heard got involved when he took Ghosh for 9 in an over to bring up the 200 which included a cheeky reverse sweep.
The pair went hard in the final 5, much to the enjoyment of their teammates in the shade. The were able to gave rapturous applause to Shane who raised his bat for his first league century on the first ball of the 49th over – striking 5 4s and 5 6s in the process. He did finally fall in the last over as Slaviero and Heard (23*) gave Thors a score of 244-7.
The hosts had chased some big scores at home this season so would have fancied their chances after the famous Hatherleigh tea. It would be a different prospect starting against Thors’ ever-reliable opening bowlers though and Slaviero almost gave the visitors a dream start when he wrapped Quick on the pad 2nd ball. The umpire was unmoved but Slaviero had his man in his next over when middle stump went flying out of the ground. Never to be outdone, Daldorph found the outside edge of the opposition captain as Shane held on sublimely at second slip. He then had the big wicket of Davies when off stump went flying a few overs later.
Hatherleigh in trouble at 4-3 but Thors knew there was a long way to go, particularly with Ghosh at the crease – the pro striking an unbeaten ton at Station Ground in May. Ghosh and Jasper Presswell negotiated the rest of the powerplay cautiously as the score reached 18-3 from 10. The skipper replaced Slaviero, hoping some off spin would put pressure on left handed Ghosh but he sought to take the attack to Thors, sweeping well and attacking the short straight boundary on occasion. Yelverton kept things tight from the other end until Choules had the prize wicket right on drinks via Vukusic running in and diving forwards at mid off. Hatherleigh 42-4.
Incoming Wood planted the very next ball for a maximum over mid off before Jopling replaced Yelverton at the other end. With mid off back, Thors came within a fingertip to removing Wood who continued to attack the short boundary. Things were less dramatic at Jopling’s end until Wood drilled one to Yelverton to give Thors number 5.
Robbins, replacing Choules, found a way of removing Presswell when Tidball clubbed one back to him and he flicked it onto the stumps with a right boot, running out Presswell at the non strikers. With Hatherleigh 80-6, Jopling and Robbins were able to keep things tight in the middle overs until the score became 110-6 with 20 to go.
Charlie Presswell and Tidball rebuilt well, however, and became difficult to remove with the left hand / hand right partnership giving Thors the run around at points. Slaviero tried a couple before Jopling had a deserved second when a change of field tempted him to sky one to Shane for his 3rd catch of the afternoon.
The incoming but injured Heard was only going to bat one way and got his side back into the game with some clean hitting. He struck a run a ball 22 before George removed him thanks to Robbins’ safe hands. Hatherleigh now had an outside chance though at 170-8 with 10 to go.
The tired and sore Yelverton was required to run in for the closing stages and put his body through some pain for his team. Daldorph and Slaviero rotated at the other end with all three seamers keeping things suitably tight but there was pressure as Hatherleigh ran well and provided some scares via the odd boundary. Shane had a 4th catch and Daldorph had a 4th wicket to give Thors number 9 but the 10th wicket was also hard to come by. It wasn’t until the last over when Slaviero cleaned up Letheren that Hatherleigh were finally beaten. A fitting end as the wicket was Slav’s 200th league wicket for the club.
Thanks go to Bob Rice in the scorebox as well as our hosts and officials for facilitating the game.
Thors leapfrog Hatherleigh into 2nd after the 100 over slog ahead of a home game against Bridestowe next week.
Thorverton Cricket Club 