Scorecard

Newbury v Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday on Sat 25 Jul 2015 at 1.00
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Won by 124 runs

Match report Thatcham made the short trip to Northcroft to face 3rd placed Newbury and with the top order finally clicking, handed out a 124 run defeat to their fellow contenders in a much more confident display than they have produced of late.

Duncan Johnson finally won a toss at the 8th time of asking, but with Friday's downpours having got under the covers, he was faced with a tough decision. One end was wet and the other end bone dry, so it really was a 50/50 as to what to do. Having chased the previous 7 weeks, Johnson decided to bat and it proved a good decision as Thatcham openers Simon Rider and Peter Spriggs started in confident fashion, Rider despatching the 1st ball of the match for a boundary. The pair posted a 50 partnership in decent time until a change of ends for Bobby Vynatheya bought him a change of fortune as Spriggs was dismissed lbw for 24. Rider had reached the 40's and was just starting to go through the gears when Vynatheya nipped one back through the gate and bowled him for 45. Josh O'Flynn became Vynatheya's 3rd victim when he nicked off for 20, Nick Ferguson taking an excellent low catch behind the stumps as the ball died on him which left Duncan Johnson and Jack Young to rebuild and then push on. Charlie Anstey was proving difficult to get away as he bowled into the end which was damp and beginning to dry out and with Vynatheya and then skipper Kevin Mills operating from the other end, the Thatcham pair found scoring tough against some tight bowling. They stuck at it though and rather than throw their wickets away in frustration and make matters worse, they came through it, both punishing anything slightly loose, Young particularly strong straight down the ground and through his favoured leg side area. He reached 46 when he gave Anstey his only success as he was caught by Mills at midwicket. Steve Bird joined Johnson and the Thatcham skipper took over as the aggressor passing 50, but Mills had the last laugh as Johnson picked out Digweed on the boundary and was dismissed for a fine 54 from 70 balls which included six 4's and two 6's. John Williams was promoted up the order for the last few overs and his belligerent hitting was just what was needed. He despatched 21 from just 9 balls and with Steve Bird finishing 8* at the other end, Johnson was able to declare with the score at 227-5 from 51 overs.

Bobby Vynatheya was the pick of the Newbury attack, his 12 overs returning 3-36 with Charlie Anstey 1-88 from 19 overs and Kevin Mills 1-80 from 16 overs the other wicket takers.

Charlie Anstey and Andrew Douglas opened up for Newbury and faced a real test against the spins twins of Chris Bird and John Williams with the old ball in hand. Just as in the first meeting of the sides, Anstey went in the 1st over as he pushed Bird into the off-side, called the run, only for Douglas to say no and by the time Anstey could turn, Scott Gibson had picked up and returned the ball to Jack Young who removed the bails and Anstey was run out for 6. With both spinners getting the ball to turn, playing across the line was a dangerous business, but it's exactly what both Sastry and Douglas decided to do and both perished to leading edges. Sastry falling to Gibson off Bird for 4 and then Douglas to Denness off Williams for 12. Bird then bowled Digweed for 2 and the big breakthrough came when Ed Uden, who's experience and ability was a danger, edged Williams to Duncan Johnson, who took a good low catch at slip to dismiss Uden for just a single. Newbury were 25-5 and in tatters but skipper Kevin Mills came out with positive intentions and looked to take the game to Thatcham with a counter attack. He'd reached 26 but then picked out Callum Johnson at wide long-on who took a good running catch to give Chris Bird his 3rd wicket. Nick Ferguson took his cue from Mills as he tried to remain positive but when he fell in Scott Gibson's 1st over for 18, the writing was on the wall. Matt Corne went for a 1st ball duck, Vynatheya just survived the hat-trick ball from Gibson, but Chris Bird nailed Michael Seath lbw for 2 and Vynatheya was joined by last man Russell Bartlett. The pair played some shots and got their side over 100, but it was never going to last long and sure enough it was Vynetheya who lofted Bird into the off-side when John Williams took an excellent running catch to dismiss him for 18. Chris Bird had picked up his 1st 5 wicket haul of the season, Newbury were blown away for 103 in the 29th over and Thatcham had 25 valuable points in their quest for an immediate return to Division 2 cricket.

Just the 3 Thatcham bowlers were used, Chris Bird returning 5-51 from 14.3 overs to take his season's tally to 39 and John Williams and Scott Gibson both taking 2-26 from their spells.

Thatcham remain top by 9 points from Royal Ascot who are next weeks visitors to Brownsfield in a clash of the top 2. Aldershot jumped above Newbury as they handed Fleet another beating and with Falkland 2's losing at Ascot, Thatcham have a nice cushion heading into the final 6 games of the season. After Ascot's visit next weekend, Thatcham then have games against all four sides at the bottom of the table before travelling to Aldershot in the final game of the season. For now though, it's one game at a time and the focus turns to Ascot.


Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 5b 2lb 
for 5 wickets
9
218		        
Simon Rider b B Vynatheya 45 78 68 8 66.18 1
Peter Spriggs lbw B Vynatheya 24 57 54 2 44.44
Josh O'Flynn ct B Vynatheya 20 26 29 2 1 68.97
Duncan Johnson ct K Mills 54 74 70 6 2 77.14 1
Jack Young ct C Anstey 46 58 58 7 79.31 1
Stephen Bird Not Out  8 36 19 1 42.11
John Williams Not Out  21 22 9 2 1 233.33 1
Scott Gibson   1 1
Callum Johnson   1
Matthew Denness   1
Chris Bird  

Newbury Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Bobby Vynatheya13.0236312.002.77
Kevin Mills16.0180180.005.00
Michael Seath3.001600.005.33
Charlie Anstey19.0588188.004.63

Newbury Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
3w  
for 10 wickets
3
103 (28.3 overs)		     
Charlie Anstey Run out  6
Andrew Douglas ct J Williams 12
Suryaprakesh Sastry ct C Bird 4
Ed Uden ct J Wlliams 1
Simon Digweed b C Bird 2
Kevin Mills ct C Bird 26
Nick Ferguson ct S Gibson 18
Michael Seath lbw C Bird 2
Matt Corne ct S Gibson 0
Bobby Vynatheya ct C Bird 18
Russell Bartlett Not Out  11

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Chris Bird14.3351510.203.52
John Williams9.0426213.002.89
Scott Gibson5.0026213.005.20

  • Umpire :
    TVCL Panel
  • Scorer :
    Ian Redmond