Scorecard

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 2XI- Saturday v Finchampstead 3 on Sat 09 Aug 2014 at 1.00
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Won By 8 Wickets

Match report Thatcham Town Cricket Club 2nd XI v Finchampstead Cricket Club 3rd XI

Thames Valley League Division 4B

Summary

Finchampstead: 187 for 8

Thatcham: 191 for 2 (Peter Spriggs 68 not out)

Thatcham won by 8 Wickets

Thatcham 2nd XI put the disappointment of losing last week’s game to the weather behind them as they comfortably strolled to victory over top of the table side Finchampstead at Brownsfield on Saturday.

As bad as Thatcham were against Finchampstead earlier in the season was as good as they were at the second attempt. Winning the toss Finchampstead elected to bat on a pitch that had not recovered fully from the previous weeks biblical flooding and they struggled to come to terms with the slowness of the track.
Thatcham Debutant Garin Howell, provided to be the perfect opening partner for Tim Mahoney as he delivery a six over spell of almost unplayable deliveries to the Finchampstead openers, with only several streaky shots and a lack of wickets ruining a near perfect spell.

With Mahoney providing his usual metronomic spell at one end and Howell tiring, skipper Bird felt a change was due and his decision was immediately proven correct as Simon Lewis (2 for 21) removed Arnold for 12 and Baizley for 4 soon after, both caught by Moore at square leg, the second being taken in particularly spectacular Fashion.

Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals as Nick Monger (3 for 48) joined his spin partner Perry Moore (2 for 40) and helped reduce Finchampstead to 131 for 7. Thatcham pushed on, hopeful of keeping Finchampstead to a total below 150 however Taylor had come to terms with the slow pitch and with T Wroot held Thatcham’s advance at bay pushing the Finch total past the 150 mark.

The returning Howell (1 for 43) reinvigorated the home sides prospects of an early finish as he removed Taylor for a well worked 48, but it was T Wroot who would be Thatcham’s antagonist as he combined some hard hitting and quick running, ably aided by Matthews (15 not out), to take the Finch score to a more challenging 187 for 8 from their allotted 52 overs.

The opening pair of Peter Spriggs and Andy Harland looked in a bit of a hurry as they added 51 for the first wicket within 12 overs with Harland particularly keen to get to the bar early. Unfortunately for Harland his luck was not to be as prevalent as Finch’s openers as he was caught plumb in front of middle to a ball that kept seemingly low.

The ever dependable Spriggs was joined by Gale in another 50 run partnership which unlike the first was played with a more cautious approach against the accurate spin of Taylor and the quick pace of Matthews. Gale finally fell for 31 to an excellent catch by Matthews off the bowling of Jenkins and the score had moved onto 108 for 2 with 16 overs remaining.

Thatcham continued to struggle only managing to add 10 runs in the next 5 overs, leaving a more daunting task of scoring 69 runs from the remaining 11 overs. Alistair Howell then took control and upped the run rate more akin to that required for victory. At the other end, Spriggs had noted the change in approach and responded appropriately, soon taking his score past the 50 mark.

As the home side edged towards victory Thatcham’s skipper Bird ensured the clubs insurance policy was paid up in full as he padded up the big guns of Moore and Hobbs and the dependable pair of Lewis and Bird to cover any possible eventuality. But there would be no need to place a claim as Spriggs (68 not out) and Howell (36 not out), during their 83 run partnership completed the perfectly gauged chased, overhauling the Finchampstead’s total in the 47th over scoring the last 72 runs required from only 9 overs.



Finchampstead 3 Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2b 2lb 
for 8 wickets
4
187 (52.0 overs)		     
M Arnold ct  Lewis 12
T Predgen ct  Moore 31
M Baizley ct  Lewis 4
S Taylor ct  Howell 48
T Ansell ct  Monger 8
C Wroot lbw  Moore 3
B Fisher ct  Monger 0
T Wroot Not Out  60
S Jenkins ct  Monger 1
L Matthews Not Out  15
J Loveday  

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 2XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Garin Howell11.0143143.003.91
Tim Mahoney14.032900.002.07
Simon Lewis7.0021210.503.00
Nick Monger12.0248316.004.00
Perry Moore8.0240220.005.00

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 2XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
17w 3b 4lb 
for 2 wickets
24
191		        
Peter Spriggs Not Out  68
Andy Harland lbw  Matthew 29
Simon Gale ct  Jenkins 31
Alistair Howell Not Out  36
Perry Moore   2
Michael Hobbs  
Simon Lewis  
Nick Monger   3
Stephen Bird   1
Garin Howell  
Tim Mahoney   1

Finchampstead 3 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
S Jenkins12.0154154.004.50
J LOveday5.002500.005.00
S Taylor18.045900.003.28
L Matthews11.4141141.003.51