Scorecard

Beaconsfield v Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday on Sat 14 May 2016 at 1.00
Match was Drawn

Match report After last weeks victory over Royal Ascot, Thatcham travelled to relegated Beaconsfield expecting a really tough encounter from a side looking to bounce straight back up to Division 1 at the first attempt.

Winning the toss on a good looking track, Duncan Johnson had no hesitation in electing to bat first and in form Josh O'Flynn and Kieran Wood opened up against some very ordinary seam bowling from the home attack. Heavyside in particular struggled to find any line and length, his opening new ball partner Connor Thomas much the more accurate bowler and he found a decent ball to knock back Wood's off peg for 7 in the fourth over. Simon Rider joined O'Flynn who was looking in imperious form as he found the boundary with regularity. Thatcham raced to 56-1 from the opening 10 overs and built an excellent foundation. O'Flynn passed 50 and with Rider offering excellent support, the two doubled the visitors total at the 20 over mark with no further loss of wickets, 112-1. With the platform built, Thatcham should have been looking at a total of 250+ but it was when Beaconsfield took the pace off the ball that they started to get a little more control. Jason Harrison and Nish Odedra started turning the screw and with O'Flynn looking a little edgy in the 90's, Harrison got his man as Thatcham's opener went for the maximum to bring up his 100 and could only find the safe hands of Sullivan, who took a towering catch to dismiss O'Flynn for 94. It was an excellent innings from the Thatcham vice captain who has started the season in a rich vein of form. It was important that the visitors took stock of the situation but two balls later Harrison bowled Rider for 24 and Jack Young and Tom Mahoney had to build again from scratch. Once in, as O'Flynn had demonstrated, the wicket played well, but starting out it was tough to score and definitely a track where clutches of wickets could fall quickly together. This was to be the case as none of Thatcham's mid to lower order found any rhythm and 136-1 in the 28th over soon became 160-6 10 overs later as Young (10), Mahoney (13), Johnson (2) and Williams (9) all fell to the Beaconsfield slow bowlers. The visitors set their sights on reaching the 200 mark and anything above would be a bonus and although they lost Scott Gibson (9) and Tristan Allen (10), the last pair of Callum Johnson and Chris Bird got their side up to 202-9 from the 52 overs bowled.

It was a slightly disappointed Thatcham side that went for tea, rueing the missed opportunity after such a good start but credit to the Beaconsfield spinners who really put the brakes on and applied decent pressure. Harrison bowled 10 overs and returned 3-22 and Rendell bowled 11 overs, finishing with 3-39. Connor Thomas 1-25 from 5, Sullivan 1-19 from 8 and Odedra 1-43 from 13 were the other wicket takers.

With the wicket offering some turn and a little uneven bounce it was an easy decision to take the old ball and open up with the spin of John Williams and Chris Bird. Harrison and Richardson came out for the home side and with both Thatcham spinners offering nothing, runs were hard to come by. Williams struck in his 4th over, a brute of a ball taking Harrison's glove and Chris Bird took a simple catch at gully. The home side were up against it, just 20 runs coming off the first 10 overs and Thatcham had them just where they wanted them. Young Richardson was unsure whether to stick or twist and had reached 18 when he went after Williams only for Kieran Wood to take a well judged running catch at mid-on, 33-2. A fine partnership of 86 between Nish Odedra and skipper Chris Thomas then threatened to take the game away, the new ball taken in the 18th over and with the extra pace, the runs started flowing and only Scott Gibson was able to stem the flow as the other seamers struggled. Beaconsfield skipper Thomas looked a class act, a couple of four's through mid-on were a sign of a very fine player and it was vital that the visitors made a breakthrough. Thomas passed 50 but then the decision to bring back John Williams proved a good one as in his second over back, he found a way through Thomas and bowled him for 53. Two balls later the hard hitting and dangerous Heavyside was dismissed lbw for 0 and this was a hammer blow to the home sides chances of overhauling the target. Odedra was still there though and proving a real thorn in Thatcham's side. Beaconsfield passed 150 in the 38th over and with 10 overs remaining, they were still very much in the game with a required rate of just 5 an over needed. Chris Bird then nailed Odedra, caught at the wicket by Jack Young for 54, a vital wicket in the circumstances and now the home side had new batters coming in needing to score from the off and the wicket wasn't condusive to this style of play, especially against the two left arm Thatcham spinners. Higgins was caught by O'Flynn off Williams for 18 and then Francis was needlessly run out for 9 as the Beaconsfield charge faltered. It was left to Rendell and Connor Thomas to see the final overs out as the match petered out into a draw, Beaconsfield finising up 174-7 from their 48 overs.

John Williams returned 5-50 from 19 overs and Chris Bird 1-41 from 14 overs, but in truth, Thatcham didn't bowl well enough to win the game on a wicket that offered some good assistance. Not enough balls were in the business area and that's something that will have to improve if games are to be won in the coming weeks.

The points split was Thatcham 13 points and Beaconsfield 7. Thatcham's next game is a home match against Burnham 2's at Brownsfield.

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
6w 9b 2lb 
for 9 wickets
17
202		        
Josh O'Flynn ct J Harrison 94 10 2 1
Kieran Wood b Connor Thomas 7 1 1
Simon Rider b J Harrison 24 3
Jack Young ct J Harrison 10 1 1
Tom Mahoney b J Rendell 13 1
Duncan Johnson ct N Odedra 2
John Williams ct M Sullivan 9 1 1
Scott Gibson b J Rendell 9 1
Tristan Allen ct J Rendell 10
Callum Johnson Not Out  8
Chris Bird Not Out  1 1

Beaconsfield Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
D Heavyside4.003000.007.50
Connor Thomas5.0025125.005.00
T Beckford2.001300.006.50
N Odedra13.0043143.003.31
J Rendell11.0139313.003.55
J Harrison10.032237.332.20
M Sullivan8.0219119.002.37

Beaconsfield Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
3w 5b 1lb 
for 7 wickets
9
174 (48.0 overs)		     
J Harrison ct John Williams 6
R Richardson ct John Williams 18
N Odedra ct Chris Bird 54
Chris Thomas b John Williams 53
D Heavyside lbw John Williams 0
A Higgins ct John Williams 18
A Francis Run out  9
J Rendell Not Out  5
Connor Thomas Not Out  2
T Beckford  
M Sullivan  

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
John Williams19.0650510.002.63
Chris Bird14.0241141.002.93
Tristan Allen4.002500.006.25
Callum Johnson3.001500.005.00
Scott Gibson6.011900.003.17
Josh O'Flynn2.001800.009.00

  • Umpire :
    Panel
  • Scorer :