Scorecard

Slough 2 v Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday on Sat 06 Sep 2014 at 12.30
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Lost by 5 wickets

Match report Thatcham were relegated from TVL 2b as they slipped to a 5 wicket defeat to Slough’s 2nd XI at Lower Upton Road on Saturday.
The rules of the TVL say you cannot play more than 2 players who have played more than 8 games at a higher standard and Slough took full advantage of this by ‘dropping’ Shaan Khan and Shahid Yousuf from their Home Counties Premier League side to face Thatcham. Khan is a former Middlesex starlet currently representing Buckinghamshire in Minor Counties cricket and Yousuf is Slough’s 1st team overseas professional, a former Pakistan U19 vice-captain he has played 107 1st class matches for Lahore and scored 4,800 runs. He is also the backbone of the Sialkot Stallions T20 side and has played Champions League T20 cricket.
Slough skipper Abbas Bhatti won the toss and decided to bowl first and Scott Gibson and Simon Rider opened up against Khan and the pacy Daniyal Akhtar, both bowlers swinging the ball in the humid conditions making batting extremely difficult. Gibson was first to go, Akhtar producing a quick in-swinging yorker to knock back his off stump for 1 and Rider followed shortly after for 3, Akhtar again the successful bowler. Duncan Johnson joined ex-Eton schoolboy Felix Hartley Russell at the crease and when he survived a close lbw shout first ball and was bowled off a no-ball immediately afterwards, the Thatcham skipper must have been thinking it was his day. Any thoughts of that were soon dismissed however as a change of bowling paid immediate dividends, Syed replacing Akhtar and trapping Johnson lbw for 11. The experienced Chris Wright supported Hartley Russell for a short while until he was unfortunate to play on for 14, leaving the visitors in some trouble at 60-4 through 21 overs. Thatcham then staged a fantastic counter attack with Hartley Russell in tandem with wicket keeper Jack Young and they took the attack to the Slough spinners. Hartley Russell was his usual belligerent self, smashing Yousuf’s occasional leg spin for 27 from 2 overs and N Akhtar’s off spin for 22 off one expensive over, passing a deserved half century in the process, whilst Young was rotating the strike perfectly and employing his favoured sweep shot making it difficult for Slough skipper Bhatti to stop the flow of runs. Hartley Russell had brilliantly moved into the 90’s when Syed returned to the attack and a mix of tiredness and the quest for quick runs bought about his dismissal as he was bowled just 2 runs short of a deserved century. It was a stellar knock from Hartley Russell, taking his TVL tally for the season to 600 runs in what’s been a superb season for the big Thatcham number 3. The partnership of 79 with Young had gone a long way to setting a competitive total for the home side to chase. Young reached a brilliant half century and although Callum Johnson and John Williams perished, he remained unbeaten on 60 not out as the visitors innings finished on a healthy 237-8 after their allotted 52 overs.
So the simple equation was now either Slough successfully chased the 237 or Thatcham bowled themselves to victory and survival.
Skipper Bhatti and Ahmed opened up and as expected, started in an aggressive manner as Thatcham took the old ball and opened with Chris Bird and Duncan Johnson. Needing to score at five an over they did just that with a mix of good fortune and some loose deliveries. Bhatti then tried one big shot too many and was bowled by his opposite number for 8. Shaan Khan joined Ahmed and immediately looked to get into his stride. The left handed Ahmed had certainly done his job but it was Johnson who struck again, inducing a nick behind and Jack Young took the catch to dismiss the opener just shy of a half century. Shahid Yousuf then entered the fray and Thatcham knew they had to break this partnership if they were to win the match. From his very first ball which he smashed to the cover boundary, Yousuf looked a different proposition to anything Thatcham had bowled at all season and it was clear he was a seriously good player. Thatcham had one chance to split the pair and it was to prove a defining moment. John Williams had been introduced to the attack and he was getting some big turn and bounce and with Khan looking to dominate, he tried to smash Williams to the deep mid-wicket boundary. A top edge was the result and with the ball going up between two Thatcham fielders, a mix up and a collision resulted in the chance going to ground and Khan survived. Williams then had to be replaced due to a back injury as Khan and Yousuf began scoring freely. The new ball was taken with 20 overs to bowl and as much as Thatcham had to try something, Yousuf took a liking to it and proceeded to smash the ball to all parts. Khan had reached a half century and the partnership was over a hundred when Paul Jenkins struck, Khan pulling a short ball to Rider and Thatcham had a sniff, Slough 190-3 through 33 overs. Yousuf was still at the crease though and he upped the tempo in a race for the line. He’d reached a chanceless 73 when he tried to hit Chris Bird over the ropes and Simon Rider took an excellent catch on the deep square boundary and Yousuf had to go. Slough still needed 33 runs for victory and although the rate required was only 3 per over, Thatcham put the pressure on in one last desperate bid for survival. Bird removed N Akhtar for 7, but that was to be Thatcham’s last success as Nathan finished 15 not out and the experienced wicket keeper Noor 17 not out as Slough passed the target from 43 overs for the loss of 5 wickets to keep their TVL 2b status. Chris Bird, 16 overs 2-76 and Duncan Johnson 15 overs 2-63 did everything they could for the Thatcham cause but it wasn’t enough as they join the likes of Newbury, Falkland 2’s, Purley and Royal Ascot in Division 3a for the 2015 season.
The two Home Counties Premier League players that Slough were allowed to bring were without doubt the difference between the two sides on the day and although the defeat does leave a bitter taste in the mouth, the table doesn’t lie and Thatcham haven’t been good enough throughout the season as a whole. The Club will look to bounce straight back and promotion from 3a will be the immediate target.
Felix Hartley Russell carried the side with the bat to finish with 600 runs at an average of exactly 50 and it was Thatcham’s spinners who carried the threat with the ball, Chris Bird taking 31 wickets, John Williams 23 and Duncan Johnson 18, as they accounted for 72 out of the 94 wickets Thatcham have taken all season. The seam attack will need to carry a far greater threat next season if the Club are to progress again.
So Thatcham finish 10th from 10, 11 points from safety and it looks like Sonning and Aldershot will also be relegated with them.

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
7nb 1w 3b 15lb 
for 8 wickets
26
237		        
Scott Gibson Bowled  1
Simon Rider Bowled  3 2
Felix Hartley Russell Bowled  98 11 4
Duncan Johnson Lbw  11 2
Chris Wright Bowled  14 2
Joe Lawrance Lbw  10 2
Jack Young Not Out  60 7 1
Callum Johnson Bowled  8
John Williams Bowled  4 1
Paul Jenkins Not Out  2
Chris Bird  

Slough 2 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Shaan Khan13.0343143.003.31
Daniyal Akhtar9.0127213.503.00
N Syed11.0234217.003.09
Nathan3.00818.002.67
N Akhtar11.0260160.005.45
Sultan Ali Bhatti3.0120120.006.67
Shahid Yousuf2.002700.0013.50

Slough 2 Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 3w 5b 3lb 
for 5 wickets
14
238 (43.0 overs)		     
A Ahmed Caught  48
Abbas Bhatti Bowled  8
Shaan Khan Caught  56
Shahid Yousuf Caught  73
N Akhtar Caught  7
Nathan Not Out  15
F Noor Not Out  17
Daniyal Akhtar  
N Syed  
Sultan Ali Bhatti  
S Kazim  

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Chris Bird16.0176238.004.75
Duncan Johnson15.0063231.504.20
John Williams6.003400.005.67
Callum Johnson2.002400.0012.00
Scott Gibson3.001700.005.67
Paul Jenkins1.0015115.0015.00

  • Umpire :
    TVL Panel
  • Scorer :
    Ian 'Rocky' Martin