Scorecard

Wokingham 2 v Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday on Sat 22 Aug 2015 at 12.30
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Lost by 26 runs

Match report Thatcham had a massive slice of good fortune as they went down by 26 runs to Wokingham's 2nd string on Saturday. Thinking they had blown their promotion chances they then discovered that Cove 2's had beaten leaders Royal Ascot, Purley had beaten Aldershot and Newbury had defeated Falkland 2's as all the top four suffered defeats as the promotion race enters it's penultimate week.

Ascot remain top with 282 points, Thatcham currently fill the other automatic promotion spot with 268 points, with Aldershot just 9 points behind on 259 and Falkland 2's a further 16 points back on 252 points. Purley have 236 points in 5th and look to have a little too much work to do to get in the frame with just two fixtures left to play.

The remaining games see Ascot travel to Newbury before entertaining Purley on the final day, Thatcham face Finchampstead 3's before travelling to Aldershot on the final day in what is increasingly looking like a 'winner takes all' fixture, Aldershot face Wokingham 2's before this whilst Falkland's 2nd string look to take advantage of any slip up's as they visit Purley before a final day fixture against Wokingham 2's.

It was Thatcham old boy Rakesh Patel whose 67 was the difference between the two sides on Saturday, despite career best figures from John Williams who bowled with outstanding control and accuracy to return 7-26 from 10.1 overs. Scott Gibson, 2-48 from 8 overs and Chris Bird 1-39 from 12 overs were the other successful bowlers as Thatcham took just 37 overs to dismiss their hosts for a modest 141.

With over 60 overs to reach the target it should have been plain sailing but Thatcham's batting frailties surfaced once again. This should take nothing away from the Wokingham bowlers however as every Thatcham dismissal was down to decent bowling rather than an injudicious stroke. Skipper Clapham blew away the top order as he bustled in with aggression and decent pace on a fairly dead track. Simon Rider (2) and Peter Spriggs (0) were both clean bowled, Duncan Johnson (6) thought he had inside-edged one for four only for the keeper to take a blinder, Jack Young (20) was lbw and when Josh O'Flynn was bowled for 39, Thatcham were 80-5, with all 5 wickets to the Wokingham skipper. With a further 61 runs required and 40 overs in which to get them, batting time was all that was required but the visitors just kept losing wickets. The normally dependable Stephen Bird edged Pearce behind for 4, Callum Johnson was lbw to the same bowler for 16 and when Madjwick induced a nick from John Williams for 5 and clean bowled Scott Gibson with the very next ball, Thatcham were staring down the barrel at 110-9. 31 were needed and last man Chris Bird joined Matthew Denness as the pair set about winning the game. The score was 115-9 when the game ended on a controversial note. Bird played at a delivery from Pearce which the fielding side believed he had edged but the ball clearly bounced before entering wicketkeeper Loxton's gloves. To the visitors surprise, the umpires finger went up and Bird was left fuming as he had to go and Thatcham had been dismissed for 115 from just 30 overs. Clapham was easily the pick of the home attack as he returned 5-33 with Pearce 3-21 and Madjwick 2-23 supporting well.

It was a desperately poor batting display from Thatcham and something which will need to be addressed and rectified before the visit of Finchampstead 3's to Brownsfield this weekend.


Wokingham 2 Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 2b  
for 10 wickets
3
141 (37.1 overs)		     
Rukshan Soza b  S Gibson 1
Matt Loxton b  S Gibson 26
Rakesh Patel ct  C Bird 67
Anthony Clapham ct  J Williams 16
Luca Wade st  J Williams 11
J Clarke ct  J Williams 1
Rich Madjwick ct  J Williams 5
Ben Myles b  J Williams 9
Dominic Ashford ct  J Williams 1
David Bishop Not Out  1
Alexander Pearce lbw  J Williams 0

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Callum Johnson7.012500.003.57
Scott Gibson8.0148224.006.00
Chris Bird12.0239139.003.25
John Williams10.122773.862.66

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 7w 6lb 
for 10 wickets
14
115		        
Josh O'Flynn b  A Clapham 39 6 1
Simon Rider b  A Clapham 2
Peter Spriggs b  A Clapham 0
Duncan Johnson ct  A Clapham 6 1 1
Jack Young lbw  A Clapham 20 4 1 1
Callum Johnson lbw  A Pearce 16 3
Stephen Bird ct  A Pearce 4
Matthew Denness Not Out  9 1
John Williams ct  R Madjwick 5 1 1
Scott Gibson b  R Madjwick 0
Chris Bird ct  A Pearce 0 1

Wokingham 2 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
David Bishop5.011600.003.20
Anthony Clapham11.013356.603.00
Rich Madjwick6.0223211.503.83
Luca Wade2.001600.008.00
Alexander Pearce6.102137.003.41