Scorecard

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday v Cove on Sat 16 Jul 2005 at 1.30pm
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Won 18 runs

Match report Thatcham produced an outstanding display at Brownsfield on Saturday with a maximum 25 point haul after successfully defending 191 to move up to 4th in the League table and within 18 points of 2nd placed Harefield.

Electing to bat on a baking hot day on, what looked, a good batting track Thatcham got off to an awful start, losing Phil Makings, Brad Ediriweera and Steve Bird with just 15 runs on the board as the Audsley brothers wreaked havoc, both getting the ball to bounce and move off the seam with amazing consistency. Thatcham needed to tough out some overs and look to repair the early damage and Chris Wright and Duncan Johnson did just that, adding 20 runs before Wright got an unplayable delivery from Andy Audsley which he could only glove to Neil Randall behind the stumps and he departed for a hard earned 9. The partnership of the match then developed and it was one which was to prove to be invaluable to Thatcham in their quest for a decent total. Matt Denness joined his skipper and in the 19 overs that followed the two of them really got their heads down, battling through tough overs from the Cove attack and really working hard for their runs. Johnson recorded yet another 50 with a trademark cover drive and had reached 64 when spinner Joe Ashton got one to bite and kick up and Johnson could only glove to Smith, who took a good catch at silly mid-off to send the Thatcham skipper back to the pavilion. Denness continued to be a thorn in the Cove side, his unpredictability proving a real asset and he reached a well deserved 50, before he too fell to Ashton for 56. Rakesh Patel and Andy Harland both departed cheaply to Andy Audsley giving him 5 wickets and it was left to a super knock from Nick Bishop with good support from Pete Edgcombe and Chris Bird to get Thatcham up to 191 before Bishop was the last man out for an invaluable 35.

With 191 on the board, early wickets were vital, but Thatcham lost Andy Harland in his 2nd over with a hamstring problem, which left just Brad Ediriweera and Pete Edgcombe as the only seamers in the home attack. Edgcombe answered the call though and he took out the talented Marsh with an unplayable delivery that he could only edge to Phil Makings in the gully and was out for 13. A quiet spell then followed as Smith and Neil Randall put on 49 to get the visitors up to 76-1 before Chris Bird tempted Smith down the track and Wright whipped the bails off to send the opener back for 34. An amazing few overs then followed as Cove lost 5 wickets for just 16 runs as Edgcombe, Bird and Bishop bowled Thatcham back into the game. Edgcombe took care of the dangerous left handed pair of Randall and Marisa, both clean bowled, Bishop took out the stubborn Tomsett and Bird had the dangerous Jones caught by Bishop at long off and then bowled Howells leaving Cove in disarray at 92-7 from 26 overs and plenty of time left for the home bowlers to wrap the game up. Ashton and Steve Audsley came out fighting though and added a hard hit 32 runs before Ashton was brilliantly caught by Chris Wright off a quicker arm ball from Bird. Andy Audsley joined his brother and added another 18 runs to push Cove closer to the total until Ediriweera ended his vigil, clean bowled for 4. Last man Sharrod and Steve Audsley then had the task of getting 50 runs for the win with fully 15 overs remaining and with Audsley continuing to take the attack to the home side, anything was possible. Both teams anxiously checked the score as Thatcham looked for the 1 wicket that would give them victory, but the Cove last pair crept closer and closer, through 160 and then 170 and suddenly it was anyone’s game until Chris Bird won the match for his side as he trapped Sharrod lbw for 9, leaving Cove all out for 173 with Steve Audsley unbeaten on a fine 45 to add to his 3 wickets earlier on in the game. Bird was the hero of a good all round bowling display as he took 5-65 from 12 overs with Pete Edgcombe providing excellent support with 3-35 from 13.

It was a truly great game of cricket full of good performances on both sides.

Thatcham would like to thank Melo Associates for sponsoring the match balls on the day.

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
191		        
Bradman Ediriweera Caught  1 1
Phil Makings Caught  5 1
Stephen Bird Lbw  2
Chris Wright Caught  9 1 1
Duncan Johnson Caught  64
Matthew Denness Caught  56
Rakesh Patel Caught  3
Andy Harland Caught  2
Nick Bishop Caught  35 1
Peter Edgcombe Caught  7
Chris Bird Not Out  1

Cove Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Cove Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
173 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Bradman Ediriweera12.0158158.004.83
Andy Harland1.20200.001.50
Peter Edgcombe13.4435311.672.56
Chris Bird12.0265513.005.42
Nick Bishop2.00818.004.00
Duncan Johnson1.00400.004.00

  • Umpire :
    Panel
  • Scorer :
    ??