Scorecard

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday v Newbury on Sat 23 May 2015 at 1.00
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Won by 16 runs

Match report Thatcham made it two maximum point local derbies in as many weeks as they beat Newbury in a real cracker at Brownsfield on Saturday to extend their lead at the top of TVL Div 3a to 14 points.

Electing to bat first, the home side were soon in trouble against the pacy Indian Pratheesh Rajpal as Simon Rider (3) flashed a catch to Kevin Mills and Chris Wright (0) was trapped on the crease lbw the very next ball. Tom Mahoney (17) was 'yorked' soon after and at 26-3 from the first 10 overs, Thatcham were staring down the barrel. Jack Young and Steven Bartholomew attempted to get the innings back on track but in Charlie Anstey's first over after replacing Rajpal, Bartholomew (7) chipped a simple chance to extra cover and had to go. Josh Winfield joined Young and the pair set about getting their side back in the game. They complemented each other well, Young busy at the crease and running well and Winfield clearing the boundary with his trademark 'power' game. They added 72 in good time before Young fell lbw to Anstey just 3 runs short of a deserved half century. Winfield passed 50 before the returning Rajpal took his wicket and he completed a deserved 5 wicket haul when John Williams (8) holed out to Ed Uden at long off soon after. Bits and pieces from the mid-lower order got Thatcham up to 172 all out from 48.5 overs and Newbury would have been very pleased with their bowling effort to dismiss the home side inside their allotted overs and gain themselves an extra 3 overs in which to achieve the target. Rajpal returned 5-46 from 12 overs and he was well supported by the talismanic Anstey, 4-48 from 13.5 overs. Skipper Kevin Mills picked up 1-32 from his 10 overs.

So with the 51 overs to get the target, Thatcham needed a quick breakthrough. Chris Bird opened with the old ball and this paid immediate dividends as Charlie Anstey was dismissed lbw without scoring. The dangerous Suryaprakash Sastry (3) soon followed as he chipped a simple chance to silly mid off and Thatcham had the start they wanted. Andrew Douglas and Neil Farrow rebuilt and both looked comfortable. They added 53 together until the partnership was broken courtesy of a run out, Farrow (32) the unlucky batter and it was a huge turning point in the game. The vastly experienced Ed Uden joined Douglas and another good partnership was the result as they added 47 to put their side firmly in the driving seat. The score had reached 108-3 through 35 overs when Thatcham skipper Duncan Johnson broke the stand with a fine caught and bowled and Uden was gone for 24. With 65 runs needed from 16 overs and plenty of wickets in hand, it should have been a walk in the park for the visitors but instead of moving the ball around the field the incoming batsmen continued to try and find boundaries and this played right into the homes sides hands. Douglas had batted 36 overs for his 47 and when he was dismissed by Josh Winfield, Thatcham sniffed a chance. Johnson turned back to his main threat, the left arm spin of Chris Bird and John Williams and Newbury were soon is disarray. The hard hitting Rajpal (11) was well caught by Tom Mahoney off Williams, Hanabe (0) went first ball to Bird and when Josh Harris (20) was caught by Winfield off Williams, the game was in the balance with all three results still possible. Newbury were 8 down with 155 on the board, 18 runs needed from 4 overs. Nick Ferguson and skipper Kevin Mills held the key for the visitors, but disaster struck as Mills drove to Bartholomew at long off and called for 'two' but the diminutive left armer fired a fantastic throw back to keeper Jack Young and Mills was short, run out for 1. Last man Bobby Vynatheya joined Ferguson and there was still a magic moment left in a game that had ebbed and flowed from ball one. Ferguson smashed Bird out to deep midwicket and for all the world it looked a certain boundary until Simon Rider appeared at full pelt and clung on to an absolute 'worldy' to seal a 25 point win for his side, Newbury dismissed for 156 in 48.2 overs, 17 runs short. Chris Bird was the pick of the home attack with 4-38 from 13.2 overs and he was ably supported by John Williams 2-40, Josh Winfield 1-27 and Duncan Johnson 1-19. Callum Johnson also bowled an important mid-innings spell of 7 overs for just 12 runs which was vital in the context of the game.

It was a fantastic game of cricket played in excellent spirit between the two local rivals.

Thatcham travel to Royal Ascot this coming weekend and look to keep the juggernaut rolling for a fourth successive victory.

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 1w 1b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
6
172		        
Simon Rider Caught  3 1
Tom Mahoney Bowled  17 2 1
Chris Wright Lbw  0 1
Jack Young Lbw  47 5 1
Steve Bartholomew Caught  7 1 1 1
Josh Winfield Caught  56 7 2 1
Duncan Johnson Caught  15 2 1
John Williams Caught  8 2
Callum Johnson Caught  12 2
Chris Bird Not Out  1
Kevin Kendall-Ball Caught  0 1

Newbury Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Rajeev Hanabe9.033900.004.33
Pratheesh Rajpal12.014659.203.83
Bobby Vynatheya4.02400.001.00
Kevin Mills10.0232132.003.20
Charlie Anstey13.5245411.253.25

Newbury Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 5w 1lb 
for 10 wickets
8
156 (48.2 overs)		     
Charlie Anstey Lbw  0
Andrew Douglas Caught  47
Suryaprakash Sastry Caught  3
Neil Farrow Run out  32
Ed Uden Caught  24
Josh Harris Caught  20
Pratheesh Rajpal Caught  11
Rajeev Hanabe Caught  0
Nick Ferguson Caught  10
Kevin Mills Run out  1
Bobby Vynatheya Not Out  0

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Chris Bird13.223849.502.85
John Williams11.0140220.003.64
Callum Johnson7.031200.001.71
Kevin Kendall-Ball3.001900.006.33
Duncan Johnson8.0219119.002.37
Josh Winfield6.0027127.004.50

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