Scorecard

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 3XI- Saturday v NPL III on Sat 02 Sep 2006 at 12.30
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Won 9 wickets

Match report Thatcham Town 3rd XI imposed an emphatic 9 wicket victory over NPL Teddington 3's last Saturday. With the weather looking grim and being uncertain about whether we could get a full 100 over game in, Thatcham won the toss and decided to field, in the hope of bowling out their opponents early.

Opening with the pace of Nick Voller and Will Clarke, both bowlers bowled accurately and with aggression. Voller was finding it difficult bowling into the wind, but that meant the opposite was true of his partner, Clarke, who was bowling better than of late, with more pace and movement of the ball. The first wicket fell to Clarke in the 10th over and it seemed from then onwards, the NPL innings began to falter, the run rate slowed and Thatcham took more and more control of the game. Clarke's spell of 6 overs gave him figures of 6-1-22-1, though he was unlucky to have a couple of chances go to ground, something all the bowlers would be frustrated by as the innings went on.

Nathan Redmond replaced Clarke to bowl with the wind. With the ball being wet from the outfield, Redmond was unable to find the swing he usually uses to bamboozle his opponents, but instead relied on varying his pace and landing the ball on the seam for sideways movement. He took a wicket in his first over, bowling the NPL number 3. That was to be his last though, as again, catches were dropped by Thatcham. The Thatcham skipper brought himself on to replace Voller, after his spell of 10-0-25-0, but also struggled bowling into the wind and after 2 overs he brought on the spin of Tony Wimbush, who despite bowling a full toss, seemingly on the first delivery of every over, bowled tightly and had the NPL batsmen beaten on many an occasion. Ansell came back to bowl at the other end, replacing Redmond (7-1-35-1). Now bowling with the wind, he bagged a brace in his first over of this spell and then followed that with 2 maidens to finish with figures of 5-2-11-2.

With Wimbush causing problems at the other end, it was time to introduce Jon Sabberton, having already taken 16 wickets at an average of only 10.38 runs in 6 games this season, he was just the man for the job. The spin twins bowled out the rest of the 52 over innings, bowling with defensive fields to restrict the total, which closed on 152-7, meaning Thatcham had 48 overs to score 153 runs at just over 3 per over. Both Wimbush and Sabberton were frustrated, even more than the other bowlers, by the lack of ability of the Thatcham fielders to hold their catches, as more than half a dozen drops came in the innings! Wimbush finished with fine figures of 14-4-34-2, equally matched by Sabberton figures of 10-3-14-1.


Thatcham came out to bat in light drizzle, sending Stuart Gregory and Bob Gadsden out with the task of scoring runs quickly from the word go, wanting to get the game finished before rain drew a close to proceedings. What would normally be an impressive 43 runs came from the first 9 overs, but with everyone becoming increasingly wet, both batsmen decided to kick on and take the NPL bowling attack apart. So much so, it only took them another 5 overs to pass into three figures, as Thatcham were 105-0 after 14 overs. Both Gregory and Gadsden finding the boundary with fantastic regularity, including a 6 from both men, who are perhaps more known for their guile and ability to stay at the crease rather than a Kevin Pietersen like strike rate. Thatcham were hopeful of both men carrying their bat, but were disappointed when Gadsden fell for a superb 58, trapped LBW by the slow bowling of Barry Scott. Steve Bartholomew came in at three and finished the job in record time, smashing 13 from just 7 balls. The Thatcham total climbed above the target to finish on 154-1 from only 18.3 overs, to record a fine 9 wicket victory, Gregory finishing with a seasons best 69 not out.


Thatcham took 20 points from this match, but ended the day on a downer, as previously second place Teddington Town 2's picked up 25 points from their game. This now leaves Thatcham, still in third place, 17 points behind second place Kew 3's. With only 2 promotion places available, Thatcham will need the full 25 points from their last game of the season and hope that Kew cannot score more than 8 points when they play hosts to top of the table Teddington Town 2's next week.

If Thatcham can score 25 points and Kew score 7 or less, Thatcham will finish ahead outright. If Kew score 8 points and Thatcham take 25, the teams will be tied with the same amount of wins, but Thatcham will go through by virtue of the fact they would have more 25 point victories than their rivals. All to play for next week then, as Thatcham travel away to play Eversley 3's.

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 3XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 1 wickets
0
154		        
Bob Gadsden Lbw  58
Stuart Gregory Not Out  69
Steve Bartholomew Not Out  13
Jamie Young   1
Nick Voller   1
Gavin Ansell   2
Tony Wimbush  
Nick Voller  
Gavin Ansell  
Will Clarke  
Jon Sabberton  

NPL III Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

NPL III Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 7 wickets
0
152 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 3XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Nick Voller10.002500.002.50
Will Clarke6.0122122.003.67
Nathan Redmond7.0135135.005.00
Gavin Ansell5.021125.502.20
Tony Wimbush14.0434217.002.43
Jon Sabberton10.0314114.001.40

  • Umpire :
  • Scorer :
    Ian Redmond