After last week’s narrow defeat against Exmouth the Women’s Softball team were back in action on Sunday at Heathcoat.

The team lined up as Sophie Whiteley, Lisa May, Vanessa Wilson, Lucy Wells, Sureka Khan, Katherine Harget, Juliette Lea and Alice Pitt. 

Having lost the toss Heathcoat elected to field. Whiteley and May out to bat first. The pair started well with 1 run and a boundary, however the success was quickly snatched away with 2 consecutive wickets from an impressive Heathcoat bowler who took 3 wickets for 7 in the first over.

Vanessa Wilson and Lucy Wells then took to the crease and again impressive bowling from the home side saw us lose a wicket to the first ball. The pair quickly reorganised and went on to score and impressive 22 runs, despite missing out on 2 boundaries with some smart fielding.

Time for Khan and debutant Harget and what a fantastic 4 overs from the pair, scoring 27 both with a boundary and losing no wickets.

Final pair stepping up for Thors, Lea and Pitt, also on debut, an impressive 13 runs scored between the pair losing 1 wicket, the score at the end of the innings 86-5.

Heathcoat now in to bat Khan stepped up with the ball to start the innings and struck with her second ball, caught and bowled the new Heathcoat batter. Bowling partner Harget kept it tight in the second over however with some good running and the help of a boundary the first pair scored 27. Thors had their work cut out.

Wells came onto bowl next and some impressive tight bowling saw her take a much-needed wicket with partner Wilson taking two. We were back in the game.

The final four overs were tense – The regular death bowling partnership of May and Whiteley continued the Thorverton fight back. A wicket fell with the fifth ball thanks to captain Whiteley and bought us right back in to the game.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be and the game was lost by 5.

We are getting closer every week and having so much fun. Thank you to Katherine and Alice stepping in at short notice both making impressive debuts for the team.

Heathcoat – 91 runs scored + 5 wickets = 116

Thorverton – 86 runs scored + 5 wickets taken = 111

Scorecard

Thank you to Heathcoat for a good game, played in great spirits. Thanks also to Ben Slaviero for umpiring Jason Van Der Meulen and Keeley Wells for scoring. 

Next game is in just two days time on Tuesday 21st June, a friendly at home to Culmstock.

After Fridays heatwave, the 2nd XI entertained Kentisbeare 1st XI at a refreshingly cooler Station Ground. Stirling again lost the toss and Kentisbeare put the hosts in.

Thors lined up with:- Farley, A.Daldorph, L.Vukusic, Baldock, Jefferson, G.Squire, Porter+, E.Vukusic, Baker, J.Stirling*, O.Coe.

Farley and Daldorph once again took on opening duties and got the hosts off to a flier, both taking advantage of the hardness of the new ball & the rapid outfield to consistently find the fence, taking Thors to an impressive 83-0 from the first ten. The hundred partnership was brought up in the 15th over, and Daldorph’s 50 was reached off 53 balls in just 45 minutes of play.

Kentisbeare finally got Farley for 38 in the 18th over, ran out after Busch missed the stumps with a direct throw, the ball was kicked back onto the non-strikers stumps by bowler Peter Kittow.

The eagerly anticipated returning of Luke Vukusic at 3 got off to a solid start with Daldorph, taking the hosts to 147-1 at drinks.

Daldorph brought up his second league 100 of the season from just 96 balls before falling to Kittow, chopping on for 105. A great innings that included 16 fours. Thors 179-2 after 29 overs.

Baldock joined Vukusic and was swiftly removed for 5, bowled by Sanders. Debutant Sam Jefferson joined Vukusic and the pair continued to accumulate with some lovely shots and good running. Vukusic brought up a well earned 50 from 48 balls before being caught and bowled by Sanders for 59, with the score 257-4 with 5 left. Jefferson followed shortly after for 23.

Grant Squire & Jay Porter saw us through the remaining 5 overs with some kamikaze running which they both managed to survive. Squire finished with 13*, Porter 10* and the total 283-5 from our overs.

After one of the annual highlights for the 2nd XI, a Carol Farley tea, Thors took to the field with the light and threatening clouds looking less than ideal.

Erin Vukusic bowled Sanders with the first ball of the innings with a great inswinger that the Kentisbeare skipper took a while to process what had just happened. Brother Luke opened from the other end and the pair kept things below the required run rate, Luke then bowling Norman for 4 and the visitors were 30-2 after 8.

With the light fading sharply and the clouds looking even more threatening, a double spin change of Baker & Stirling came into the attack to try and get through as many overs before the impending rain came in. Baker removed Kittow LBW for 8 and Stirling also hit the pads of Bendall for 15, the visitors 63-4 from 19.1 overs when the rain hammered down, just 5 balls short of making a game under the league’s rules.

The heavy rain continued for 40 minutes and play resumed at 6:05pm. The visitors recalculated target 214 from 34 overs.

Baker (2-14) and Stirling (2-28) continued their spells until they were bowled out , both picking up another in the process, the visitors 72-6 after 23 overs as Coe and E.Vukusic came back into the attack.

Vukusic struck straight away, getting Busch caught by Baker for 5. Erin finished her 7 overs with impressive figures of 2-15. Luke replaced his sister from the River End.

Coe got in on the act, removing Scott Chappell, the only act of resistance for the visitors for a well made 50, bowled top of off.

In the final over, Coe had P.Chappell caught by A.Daldorph for 2 and struck with the very final ball to remove McQueenie for 0 and claimed all 20 points for the hosts, Kentisbeare 137ao and 76 runs short of the revised target.

Scorecard

League Table

Skipper Jack Stirling “Another impressive win with the ever dependable Andy Daldorph doing the business yet again. Great performances from Luke and Sam considering they’ve been away for a few months. To nearly bowl 20 overs in an hour after the innings break to try and ensure we got a result is testament to our attitude as a unit. Great stuff from the ball from Erin, Jonny and Olly to see things home. Everyone now knows their roles in this side and we need to continue to perform them well to get to where we need to be”.

The win keeps the 2nd XI 15 points clear at the top of the E East, as we host North Devon 3rd XI next Saturday.

The 1st XI were on the road this week and trying to put the disappointment of the home defeat to Abbotskerswell behind them.

There were 2 changes as Coe & Hooper replaced Diamond and Greed. Hooper was handed his 1st XI cap as it was his 5th appearance. Team: Pitt, Chilcott, Coe, Van der Meulen, Daldorph, H. Choules, Robbins, Hooper, Slaverio, Jopling, J. Choules

Thors left a cloudy Thorverton but the weather got brighter as we advanced down the A38, albeit rain was forecast for the evening. Choules lost the toss for the first time this season and Plympton elected to bat.

The hosts got off to a flier as the Thorverton bowling got to grips with the slope and breeze. The dangerous Eliot Hamilton, fresh off of a double ton, and Harry Kandampully went off like a gun and the score was 21-0 from 3 overs. The early signs were that it would be a costly toss to lose and a long day in the dirt beckoned.

However, teenage opening bowler George Daldorph began to pull things back with a tight 5 overs going at just over 3 an over. Robbins was introduced from the Church End with the dangerous Hamilton falling into his trap being sublimely caught by the ever-athletic Hooper at deep square leg. After 12 overs the score was 57-1.

The opposition captain came in at 3 and continued the attacking intent. The Thors skipper elected to take the pace off introducing himself and Jopling. Jopling bowled Wubbeling for 25 in the 21st over as the score had reached 104-2.

Kandampully passed his half century but was bowled by Choules’ worst delivery of the afternoon soon after. 115-3 at drinks and Thorverton had regained some control.

Before the spin pairing completed their allowable overs, Jopling picked up one more wicket with thanks to an extremely sharp catch behind by Harry Choules.

The innings was well poised but with the hosts overseas star still in, Slaviero was introduced with the aim of removing him. A huge LBW appeal went up as Slaviero wrapped the back pad. Not given. The next ball was driven hard to extra cover but straight into the hands of the ever reliable Coe and Slaverio had his man. 151-5 with 15 overs to go.

Pitt and Hooper kept things tight from here as the hosts struggled to get them away. The pair took wickets in consecutive overs as the score reached 174-7 with 8 to go.

Following some steady accumulation, Slaverio was brought back on to deal with the tail and did so, taking the final 3 wickets. The last 2 of which were in the last overof the innings. Plympton were all out for 210.

After a fantastic spread put on by the hosts, Pitt and Chilcott headed out to the middle. The first ball of the innings was a full toss that Pitt played around and was eventually given out LBW for. Coe joined Chilcott at the crease, both bringing their natural calmness to proceedings. There was a great battle between Coe and the sharp left armer Jonty Walliker in particular which included it’s fair share of well evaded bouncers and drives through the covers. By the time Chilcott was bowled by Mutombodzi’s doosra, the score was 40-2 in the 13th over.

After playing the next few overs through the rain, the covers were eventually brought on after 16 overs and the score on 45-2. Thors were behind on the DLS method but 20 overs have to be competed to constitute a game.

By the time a break in the rain came, the target was revised to 178 from a total of 37 overs.

Van der Meulen set about this positively as we edged closer to the DLS targets each over but also felt in control should the game go the distance. By the time Coe was caught in the 23rd over for 31, the score was 84-3. Thors required 96 from 14 overs.

Van der Meulen really took the game to Plympton, finding the boundary 7 times on his way to his half century. Daldorph chopping on in the meantime.

Harry Choules joined Jason at the crease and as the score reached 117-4 after 28 overs the rain began to fall again. Frustratingly the covers were straight on with Thors in control of the chase but behind on DLS.

As the weather cleared, the lost overs would mean there would only be 5 overs remaining, Thors requiring around 8 an over. With Plympton’s best bowlers bowled out, the field spread and wickets hand, there was confidence in the Thorverton changing room. However by the time the covers came off, the heavens opened again and that was that. Thorverton stranded on 117-4 and crucially behind on DLS.

Scorecard

League Table

A frustrated Thorverton skipper surmised:
“I was really proud of our performance today from start to finish. I truly feel we were the better team on the day and certainly better than the 7 points we picked up. Strangely it doesn’t feel like a loss and I look forward to taking the confidence to top of the table Exmouth next week”

It was the first outing in the Covid Cup for Thors on Tuesday night, as we entertained Bradninch at a sun-drenched Station Ground.

Thors lined up with:- Pitt, L.Vukusic, Hooper, H.Choules+, Van Der Meulen, Porter, Slaviero*, Jopling, Meredith, J.Stirling, Wenley.

Eliot Acton won the toss and elected to bat in the June heat. Skipper Slaviero opened the bowling from the pavilion end and struck with just his fourth ball to remove the dangerous Tim Piper for just 4. Stirling took the catch, but not after Porter had called for it himself, misjudged his positioning and ended up on the deck. A chorus of laughter also ensued in the first over as the returning Luke Vukusic managed to get himself in a tangle chasing the ball to the leg side boundary, falling over as the ball trickled to the fence.

Pitt opened proceedings from the River End and struck with just his second ball with Eliot Acton nicking off behind. Mitch Pugh and Charlie Sheen started to take advantage of the powerplay with a few boundaries, before in the fourth over Sheen was well caught in the deep by Van Der Meulen off Pitt for 6.

The end of the powerplay saw Bradninch with 35-3 and brought about a double bowling change as Hooper and Jopling came into the attack. A nine ball over from Jopling saw 11 runs but also the wicket of South African overseas Chad Classen, caught by Slaviero. Pugh and Paul started to rebuild for the visitors, adding 18 from the next two overs.

Stirling replaced Hooper and bowled Paul with his third ball. The visitors 66-5 at the halfway stage. Pugh and Richards took another 11 off a Jopling over, before Stirling struck twice in two balls, bowling both Pugh and the incoming Badwal to reduce Bradninch to 78-7. Stirling claimed a fourth wicket, another bowled as Wakeley made his way back.

The off-spin of James Meredith replaced Jopling and kept things tight. Richards hit two large sixes off Stirling into the Orchard over the road, before Choules stumped Mills off the bowling of Meredith, then Hooper returned to bowl Liam Reed. The visitors 112 all out, with 2 overs left of their allocation.

Pitt & Vukusic opened the response for Thors. Vukusic was removed first ball, clean bowled by Classen. Hooper came in at 3 and he and Pitt accumulated in the powerplay overs, the score reaching 39-1 before Pitt was bowled by Acton for 17 in the last ball ball of the powerplay. Acton then struck again twice in his second over, bowling Hooper for 21 and nicking off Choules for 1. Sheen removed Porter plum LBW in the next over and Thors we’re struggling at 48-5 after 8.3 overs.

Skipper Slaviero joined Van Der Meulen and the paid took 8, then 11 off the next two overs, including a Van Der Meulen 6. Classen then returned to remove his fellow countryman Van Der Meulen, strangled down the leg side and well caught by Piper for 14.

Jopling and Slaviero added a few before Jopling was bowled by Pugh for 8; Thors 90-7 and needing 22 from 30. Badwal bowled two very tight sets at Meredith and uprooted Slaviero’s middle stump, Thors needing 19 from 17.

Stirling and Meredith ran well but could only manage 1s and 2s, Sheen finishing the job with the last over going for 8, Thors losing by 4 runs.

SCORECARD

Thanks to Paul Jordan for umpiring. Next up in the Covid Cup is a trip to Bohea Field on Tuesday to take on Clyst St George.

After almost a month without a league fixture the Women softball team were back in action on Sunday at a sunny Exmouth.

The team lined up as Sophie Whiteley, Natasha Carbines, Vanessa Wilson, Lucy Harget, Lisa May, Sureka Khan, Juliette Lea and Nic Fice. 

Having won the toss Thors took to the field with Khan and Harget taking the new ball. The Exmouth pair started well and managed to find the leg-side boundary on three occasions before Harget took a wicket with her final ball, well caught by Whiteley close in. 

The next two overs from Lea and Carbines went the way of the home side with good running and some helpful extras. Lea and the returning Khan turned it around though with overs seven and eight going for just five runs, the score at halfway was 56-1. 

Carbines returned to the attack and struck with her first ball, clean bowling the new Exmouth batter. Bowling partner Wilson also kept it tight and some good fielding meant the runs were kept to a minimum.

The final four overs were non-stop – Exmouth taking the initiative and finding the boundary off Whiteley before May dismantled the stumps with her first ball. She took another in her final over as the ball was skied to Harget who comfortably took the catch. The home side finished strongly with three boundaries to finish their innings on 112-4. 

The regular partnership of May and Whiteley began the Thorverton chase. A wicket fell with just the second ball as May was bowled by one that moved and dipped on her. Whiteley struck back with a couple of well hit boundaries and it could have been more but for some brilliant Exmouth fielding on the rope. It was still a good start with 29-1 from the first four overs.

Fice and Lea were next at the crease and began by running well against the accurate Exmouth bowling. The ‘hit and run’ approach did result in one mix up that the home side capitalised on and it was all to play for at halfway. A boundary from Carbines was greeted with cheers from the sidelines and more good running with Wilson kept the momentum going.

A caught and bowled swung it back the home sides way though, and as Khan and Harget strode out it was 31 required from the final four overs. This was quickly made harder with a wicket falling in their first over, a brilliant one handed caught behind from the Exmouth keeper. Despite quick running and good calling the solid fielding kept the runs at bay and 21 runs were needed from the final over. Harget provided some hope, smashing a boundary first ball, perfectly placed between the fielders behind square. Singles and twos followed but it was not quite enough to get over the line and the chase fell seven runs short.

Exmouth – 112 runs scored + 4 wickets = 132

Thorverton – 105 runs scored + 4 wickets taken = 125

SCORECARD

League Table

Thank you to Exmouth for a brilliant game, played in great spirits. Thanks also to Ben Slaviero for umpiring and Alex Jopling and Keeley Wells for scoring. 

It was fantastic to see such improvement from the side with learnings from training clearly being put into practice and extras featuring far less on the scoresheet. 

Next Sunday (19th) it’s at trip to Knighthayes to face Heathcoat CC.

After some short showers in the early morning, the sun beamed down on Station Ground where the 1st XI sought to make it 4 wins in a row. There were 2 changes from the team that won at Barton with the skipper and spinning partner Alex Jopling returning from holiday.

Choules won the toss yet again and elected to bat. The classy opening pair of Greed & Chilcott set the tone for the day getting value for shots in their opening stand of 69 before Greed was adjudged LBW for 38.

Diamond picked up where Greed left off as Thors accumulated early runs. Chilcott also fell LBW but not before passing his half century. Diamond was next to go for 29 with the consistent top 3 all being given out leg before wicket.

A few wickets then tumbled as we went from 141-2 to 147-5 with 17 overs remaining. Pitt and H. Choules showed maturity to steady the ship until a mix up meant Pitt was run out for 12.

Daldorph came to the crease, increasing the scoring rate in his nonchalant manner as the score rose above 200. Thorverton accelerated further from here and thanks to 55 not out from Choules, a run a ball 28 from Daldorph and a last over flurry from Slaviero Thors posted our highest score of the season so far – 247-7.

Notwithstanding the Cornish approach to scones, sincere thanks were handed to Dan Robbins for a superb tea before the players retook the field.

Despite a fast and disciplined opening spell from Slaviero (1-41) and a mature 5 overs from Robbins, Thors struggled to stem the run flow from the start. Abbots were with and above the required rate for the most part with the score already on 72 by the time we could take 2 wickets – Slaverio and Jopling bowling the opposition numbers 2 and 3 respectively.

Opener Eddie Smout-Cooper took the game to the Thorverton bowling and was well supported by Samuel Carpenter. Despite a number of bowling changes and short spells, Thorverton struggled to get control of the game. By the time the 2nd drinks break came in the 34th over, the visitors were 190-2.

A final roll of the dice saw Slaviero and Choules introduced. There was a glimmer of hope as Choules bowled Carpenter for 40 and then picked up another in the same over but with Smout-Cooper still there and now well past 100, Abbots remained in control.

Choules picked up one more before the visitors took the win with 4 overs to spare. Opener Smout-Cooper finishing on 152 not out.

SCORECARD

League Table

The skipper concluded:
“A tough one to take yesterday as felt we let it slip after posting a decent score. Maybe it was just under par but would back our bowling to defend 247 most times. We weren’t at our best in the field or with the ball but fair play to Abbots and especially Eddie Smout-Cooper who batted superbly.”

The first XI dropped from 4th to 5th in the congested A Division and are on the road for the next 2 weeks as we travel to Plympton & Exmouth.

After last week’s win over Topsham, the second XI took a trip down the A30 to take on Ottery St Mary 2nd XI. A fixture that twelve months ago resulted in a one wicket win for the hosts off the last ball.

Thors made a remarkable eight changes from the previous Saturday, lining up with:- J.Farley, A.Daldorph, B.Sapiecha, P.Stirling+, D.Hooper, J.Porter, G.Squire, S.Tait, E.Vukusic, I.Daldorph, J.Stirling*. Ottery won the toss and elected to bowl.

The familiar opening pairing of A.Daldorph & Farley walked to the wicket and got Thors off to a bright start, putting away persistent loose balls from the Ottery opening pair, and taking 54 from the opening ten overs.

Farley was the first to fall, edging Harris behind for 23 with the score on 68-1. Daldorph was trapped in front by Lovell in the next over for 43 from 36 balls.

Sapiecha & P.Stirling now occupied the crease and Sapiecha in particular showed a serious amount of intent, hitting four 4s in his 18 ball stayed before skying a pull shot off Harris back to the bowler for 20.

Hooper came and went for 0; chipping his second ball to Venables at mid off after a ball from off-spinner from Lovell stuck in the pitch. Thors found themselves 93-4 after just 18 overs.

Porter & P.Stirling started to steady the ship for Thors, Porter being welcomed to the crease by a ball that jagged back into his unmentionables & a lengthy time spent crouching. The pair put on 32 before a running mix up saw Porter run out for 6. 125-5 after 27.

Squire came in at 7 and immediately looked more comfortable than any of his colleagues on the slow pitch. P.Stirling chipped Venables to Harris at mid off for 28 and the incoming Tait chopped on for 2. Thors had collapsed from 92–2 to 147-7 with eleven overs left.

E.Vukusic joined Squire & the two upped the the run rate, both finding the boundary regularly, including two sixes from Squire. The pair ran aggressively & swiftly secured the final two available batting points by the 40 over mark. Squire cut the ball away to make his 50 two overs later, but immediately found himself LBW to Southall-Brown on the same score, Thors 219-8 after 42.

Imogen Daldorph joined Vukusic and the good running continued. Daldorph found the boundary before edging behind the penultimate ball of the innings for 7. Skipper Stirling hit the final ball for 4 and the 2s had recovered to 235-9 from their 45 overs. Vukusic finished with a classy 27*

Fortunately the dependable James Meredith was present to come on as sub fielder. Not having his kit in the car, the musical Meredith paid homage to the 1980 Madness hit ‘Baggy Trousers’ and the 1990 Happy Mondays single ‘Loose Fit’ when he strolled out wearing Jay Porter’s spare whites.

After a tea kindly provided by our hosts, Hooper & Tait took the new ball. Ottery’s overseas Jevin Isidore immediately took the game to Thors with some hard blows, taking the score to 35-0 after 5 and taking 18 off Tait’s second over, aided somewhat by A.Daldorph accidentally throwing the ball over the boundary instead of back to the middle. In Tait’s third over, he stretched across in an attempt to stop the ball, slipped and pulled his groin.

Hooper bowled Brewster in the next over for 2. Erin Vukusic replaced Tait before Hooper struck again, bowling Hanley for 0, leaving the visitors 52-2 after 11.

Stirling replaced Hooper for a brief two over spell, bowling the dangerous Isidore for 44 from 45 balls. Imogen Daldorph joined her county teammate Vukusic and struck with just her third ball, Southall-Brown well caught by Porter for 26. The girls continued to plug away at the Ottery batters & Daldorph struck again in her third over, bowling Weekes for 9.

Stirling replaced Vukusic and struck again, bowling Venables for 0, leaving the hosts 122-6 at drinks.

An unfortunate bout of nausea saw Imogen leave the field & she was replaced by Porter from the pavilion end, Thors left with ten on the field immediately after drinks.

The dangerous Rob Johns was run out after trying to run two to Hooper for 23. Porter got in on the car with an impressive caught and bowled diving to his left; Ottery 150-8.

The tail frustrated the Thors bowlers, hanging around and added 30 before Hooper returned to bowl Harris for 22. A further 18 were added before Hooper wrapped things up bowling Lovell for 26, the hosts 197 all out and Hooper finishing with impressive figures of 8.5-1-4-16.

SCORECARD

League Table

Captain Jack Stirling “I thought we made things harder for ourselves than they could’ve been, especially with the bat and a few freebies in the field. Grant & Erin performed exceptionally to dig us out of trouble. Winning when not at our best is a good sign. I’d have snapped your hand off at being 13 points clear at the top a third of the way through the season; plenty of positives so far”.

Thanks to Rich Lloyd for umpiring, Bob Rice for scoring and James Meredith for being present to sub field.

Next up for the 2nd XI is a home fixture against Kentisbeare 1st XI on Saturday 18th.

Saturday saw the 2nd XI looking to bounce back from last week’s loss in a top of the table clash at the Station Ground, Topsham St James the visitors.

The side had six changes from last week’s side including league debuts for Junior players Jack Baker and Freddie Davidson. The line-up: B Sapiecha+, A. Daldorph, B. Coe*, D. Baldock, H. Squire, J. Baker, J. Baker, J. Meredith, I. Daldorph, O. Coe, F. Davidson.

In overcast conditions, Ben Coe won the toss and elected to bowl first, looking to exploit the slight bit of moisture from the pitch being undercover overnight. And his son, O. Coe, did just that in his first over having Wardle smartly caught at point by Davidson. Jack Baker and O. Coe carried on with the new ball with a mixture of balls to keep the batters guessing but couldn’t find the second breakthrough.

The metronome that is I. Daldorph took over and Baker senior replaced his son. The pair tightened up the run rate, not giving the batters many opportunities to score and were backed up well in the field. The pressure eventually told with J. Baker removing the visiting skipper who attempted to cut a ball that was too full, leaving Topsham 75-2 at the 18 over mark.

Topsham continued to tick along at about 5 an over, with Treleaven moving to 50. With wickets in hand, Topsham looked to accelerate in the last 10 overs.

I. Daldorph had Treleaven caught for 78 by B. Coe at cow. Meredith and Baldock closed the innings out with the ball for Thors with no more wickets to fall despite a couple of chances of Meredith’s bowling.

Topsham finished their 45 overs 221-3, J. Baker 1-12, I. Daldorph 1-40, O. Coe 1-41

Following a cracking Meredith tea, the lesser spotted Sapiecha and A. Daldorph opened the batting. Three balls in A. Daldorph was run out without facing a delivery and B. Coe shortly followed him back to the pavilion after being caught at slip without scoring. Thors 0-2 off the first over. With a few nerves jangling, Baldock strode out to the crease to set about getting the chase underway.

Both Sapiecha & Baldock immediately started to take theTopsham attack to the sword with gusto, on a track which had already proved to be good for batting. The pair frequently hit boundaries on both sides of the wicket, including a superb 6 over the road for Sapiecha, scoring 80 runs off the first 10 overs.

It was no long after that Sapiecha brought up his 50 with a six of Wardell that had his teammates scampering for safety in front of the pavilion in the 12th over. The 100 partnership followed in the next over, as did the wicket of Sapiecha when he popped one up to mid-wicket with a cry of “Oh NO!”, putting Thors at 109-3.

Squire was the next batter in, and him and Baldock set about knocking off the remaining 113 runs. The pair settled in together with some solid running between the wickets and regular boundaries keeping the scoreboard moving without presenting too many opportunities to the visitors.

As the innings went past the 25th over, the runs and boundaries started to flow more easily for both batters. Baldock brought up the 100 partnership, his second of the match, with a 4 which took him to 99 and the team to 211-3 (28 overs). A leg bye of the first ball of the next over put Baldock back on strike. Two balls later, he nudged one to the cover point area and called through his partner for a quick single. Throw at the strikers end. Missed! The ball sped away across the carpet to the square leg boundary for over throws, 5 runs. Baldock had his ton and a place on the virtual honours board.

Two balls later the game was done with Squire hitting the winning runs. Thors winning by 7 wickets and taking 16 points.

Thorverton 2nd XI 222-3 D. Baldock 104*, B. Sapiecha 58, H. Squire 33*. Sapiecha-Baldock partnership 109, Baldock-Squire partnership 113*.

A big thank you to Charlie Penn and Sheila Harding of Topsham St James for umpiring and scoring respectively.

A big win the 2nd XI keeps them top off the E East division and next week sees the side make the trip to Ottery St Mary.

We are delighted to report that Erin Vukusic (2021) and Imogen Daldorph (2022) have both made their senior county debuts for the Devon Women’s side.

Erin made her senior debut against Wiltshire in 2021 and Imogen made her debut against the same opposition last month.

In 12 appearances for Devon Women, Vukusic has scored 77 runs in 6 innings at an average of 38.5. She has also taken 8 wickets with the ball at an average of just 11.88.

Daldorph took 1-16 from 4 overs on her senior debut and is yet to bat.

Congratulations to both girls – everyone at Thorverton CC is extremely proud.

After two wins in as many weeks, the 1st XI travelled to Torquay to take on Barton 1st XI in front of the Disney+ cameras and amongst the hum of the Torbay Airshow.

Thors made four changes from the win over Kilmington, lining up with:- A.Chilcott, G.Greed, T.Diamond, J.Van Der Meulen, D.Robbins, H.Choules+, J.Porter (1st XI debut), G.Daldorph, B.Slaviero*, J.Stirling

Slaviero won the toss in front of the documentary ensemble and elected to bat. With intermittent showers all morning, the covers had successfully kept the wicket dry. Greed and Chilcott opened for Thors. Greed was unfortunate not to see the opening over out; blocking a full ball from Crocker only to strike it into his front leg and the ball squirmed back onto his stumps.

May’s Player of the Month Tom Diamond joined Chilcott in the middle, in the shadow of his beloved Plainmoor and the pair proactively took the game to the hosts; running aggressively and happily putting away any loose balls from the Barton opening pair of Crocker and Lipton and Thors had reached 33-1 after five overs.

The pair continued to accumulate until the left armed Lipton managed to get the ball to swing back into Chilcott (18 from 24) and wrap him on the pads in front. A self-proclaimed cold Van Der Meulen walked out to join Diamond at 38-2.

The former India U19 off-spinner Siddesh Veer came into the attack and removed an exasperated Diamond in his second over LBW for 16. Lieutenant Robbins strolled out beneath his aviation counterparts with the score at 58-3.

Van Der Meulen & Robbins set about keeping Veer at bay and counterattacking the change bowlers from the other end. Barton skipper Parker brought himself into the attack and swiftly removed himself after a solitary over following two boundaries from Van Der Meulen, including a six over square leg. Off-spinner Harford replaced him and the overseas continued to take the game to Barton, hitting a huge six onto the host’s pavilion roof. He tried to do the same over long on and holed out in the same over for 45, the visitors 98-4 after just 19 overs. Veer struck again in the following over to find the leading edge of Robbins and the hands of Bell at cover for 9.

Pitt and Choules were tasked with trying to keep our Veer who was now generating some serious turn off the surface. Choules was quickly stumped off Veer trying to reach the pitch of the ball for just one, Pitt and Porter followed him two overs later, both bowled to provide Veer witb another two victims. In the flash of an eye, the visitors had gone from 98-3 to 103-8, with 26 of the allotted overs still to be bowled.

George Daldorph went on the counter attack from the start, hitting Harford for 12 off the following 25th over, including a 6 over long on. The next man to go was skipper for 0; the impressive Veer finishing with 6-21 to put in his docuseries. Stirling was the last man in with the score on 120-9. He hung around for 7 overs, leaving Daldorph to do the scoring. Daldorph was finally caught behind for 36 and the visitors looked in a precarious position in the match with 140 all out and over an hour to be played before tea.

After a brisk turnaround, Slaviero and Daldorph formed the new ball pairing for the visitors. They kept things tight from the get-go and the pressure soon paid dividends, the skipper getting Needham, caught at cover by Diamond. Daldorph struck in the following over, getting one to lift on Lewis, who was smartly caught by Van Der Meulen at gully; all of a sudden Thors were well in the game with the hosts at 8-2 from 6 overs.

Slaviero soon struck again, bowling Lipton in the 9th. Siddesh Veer came to the crease alongside Barton skipper Adam Parker, who perished to his first ball, and the first ball of Van Der Meulen’s spell, Jason finding some serious bounce off a length and all Parker could do was pop the ball up to Slaviero in the gully.

Pitt was introduced and kept things tight. Van Der Meulen bowled Lipton in the 12th, leaving the visitors reeling at 28-5.

Van Dee Meulen continued to chip away at Veer and the middle order, eventually Veer was adjudged caught behind. Shelton and Bell struggled through to tea at 41-6 from 17 overs.

After a 30 minute break and a subdued atmosphere from both sides in the pavilion, Shelton and Bell rebuilt the Barton innings slowly, taking the score to 70-6 after 27 overs. Pitt, Van Der Meulen and Slaviero all toiled away in the muggy conditions to no avail. Robbins was introduced and struck twice in his third over, Shelton well caught by Chilcott running back at mid on, then bowling Bell 3 balls later to a ball which kept lower than the batter anticipated. Barton 70-8 after 29.

More bowling changes ensued with Daldorph back after Pitt had completed his overs tidying for 0-23. There was a single over from Stirling before an inspired piece of fielding from Van Der Meulen ran out Harford at the non-strikers end with a direct hit. Bowker was then bowled by Daldorph with the next ball and Barton were all out for 91; Thors victors by 49 runs and claiming 16 points. An incredible game of cricket with all twenty wickets falling in under 70 overs play. After 5 matches, Thors are 4th in the A Division.

Scorecard

League Table

Skipper Ben Slaviero “Jason and George batted really well. Chilly and Tom got good starts. All our bowlers bowled well, keeping good lines and I thought our fielding was brilliant.”

Thank you to Keeley Wells for scoring.

Next up for the 1st XI is a home fixture against Abbotskerswell.