Scorecard

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 4XI- Saturday v Falkland 4 on Sat 14 May 2011 at 1pm
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Lost by 14 runs

Match report Thatcham won the toss and elected to bowl. Opening with Gavin Ansell (12-1-3-50) and Neil Stevenson (11-0-0-55), both bowlers found great movement with the new ball and soon removed the opposition skipper, Wilson Carlisle for only 6. That early breakthrough would seemingly be the last piece of good fortune for the home side, as time after time, edges landed safe and the ball evaded the outside edge on the way to the keeper. That said, the Thatcham bowlers stuck to their task and though spin twins Adam Mather (6-0-1-38) and younger brother Tommy Mather (2-0-0-17) struggled with the strong wind, the remaining Thatcham seamers plied their trade well. Club legend, Andy Stephenson (7-0-0-33) returned from long term injury to bowl a fine, if luckless spell. He was ably supported by new comers Ian Parry-Belcher (3-0-0-11) and in form Kunal Sharma (8-0-3-41). Falkland made the most of any luck that went their way, managing to post a very competitive 251-7dec from 50 overs. The stand out performance from Falkland came in the form of Kuram Akram (82), who also scored 118 not out 2 weeks ago against a Thatcham 3rd XI, as part of the pre-season friendly schedule.

In reply, Thatcham opened with Bob Gadsden (10) and Neil Stevenson (27), both of whom struggled against the Falkland bowlers, who focussed on taking the pace off the ball. The openers were the both caught, as were the majority of Thatcham’s batsmen, as they tried to keep up with the run rate. Piers Bragg (28) in particular looked good during his aggressive innings. It was not until Andy Stephenson (65) and Kunal Sharma (53) came together for the 7th wicket, that Thatcham looked like chasing down the Falkland total. Both batted calmly but aggressively, the pair hitting 16 boundaries between them. Sadly, Falkland’s slow bowlers held their nerve to dismiss both batsmen, just a few over from the end of the innings. Thatcham were finally dismissed for a fine 237 in the 49th over.

It’s fair to say that Thatcham can consider themselves a little unlucky to have lost the game, but will take a lot of positives from the game. The bowlers bowled well, Peter Spriggs put in another stellar performance with the gloves and the batsmen put together a well constructed chase, in what were difficult conditions. Next weeks trip to play Yately 3’s will provide an early opportunity to make amends and post the first win of a long season.

Falkland 4 Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 7 wickets
0
251 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 4XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Gavin Ansell12.0150316.674.17
Neil Stevenson11.005500.005.00
Adam Mather6.0038138.006.33
Tommy Mather2.001700.008.50
Andy Stephenson8.003300.004.13
Kunal Sharma8.0041313.675.13
Ian Parry-Belcher3.001100.003.67

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 4XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
237		        
Bob Gadsden Caught  10
Neil Stevenson Caught  27
Peter Spriggs Caught  9 2
Piers Bragg Caught  28
Andy Stephenson Caught  65
Tommy Mather Caught  14
Gavin Ansell Caught  0 1
Kunal Sharma Stumped  53 1
Ian Parry-Belcher Not Out  0
Adam Mather Bowled  2
Iain Cottingham   1

Falkland 4 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
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