Scorecard

Slough 2 v Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday on Sat 02 Jul 2016 at 1.00
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Lost by 4 wickets

Match report Thatcham's search for a league victory goes on as they were beaten by Slough's 2nd XI at Upton Court Road on Saturday by a 4 wicket margin.

The West Berkshire club won their opening game of the season versus Royal Ascot but since then have been frustrated by two drawn games, two washed out games and four losses in the last eight weeks. They now sit dangerously close to the drop zone with just Beaconsfield and Chiswick beneath them. The first half of the season has now passed and it's back to the week one games, so Thatcham face a trip to Royal Ascot hoping that they can repeat the earlier season victory.

At Slough, skipper Duncan Johnson won the toss and decided to bat on what looked a very dry and dusty track. Kieran Wood and Josh O'Flynn opened up against the pacy Danyal Akhtar and the more sedate Nadeem Syed. Wood survived a couple of chances before Akhtar finally nailed him for 16 and when vice captain O'Flynn (8) was involved in a run out mix up with Peter Spriggs it wasn't the start that Thatcham had hoped for. Wickets continued to fall as Rafiq was introduced into the attack and he clean bowled both Spriggs (12) and Jamie Young (15) as batters made starts but failed to go on. Tom Mahoney and Jack Young came together at 52-4 in the 19th over and they had a stiff task to rebuild the innings against some accurate Slough bowling. The two batted in a excellent manner, running hard and putting the Slough fielders under some intense pressure and it was just what the visitors required. They added 70 valuable runs until Mahoney fell to the spin of Faisal Khan for 31 to leave Thatcham at 122-5 approaching the 40th over. John Williams was sent in to try and counter attack but it was Slough's Naveed Akhtar who then took centre stage as his off spin ripped through the lower order. Williams holed out for 6 and Duncan Johnson (1) and Tristan Allen (4) both perished trying to force the pace. Callum Johnson added a useful 25 with Young, who was finally caught by Ilyas for a fantastic knock of 70. It was left to Akhtar to finish the innings in the final over and claim a 5 wicket haul as Thatcham were all out for 184 in 51.4 overs, Callum Johnson the last to fall, clean bowled for 14 leaving Chris Bird stranded at the non strikers end on 0*.

Naveed Akhtar returned excellent figures of 16.4 overs, 5-44 and he was well supported by Yaqoot Rafiq, 2-43 from 11 overs, Faisal Khan 1-44 from 8 overs and Danyal Akhtar 1-19 from 7 overs.

With the pitch offering some turn and inconsistent bounce, the visitors took the old ball knowing that with 184 on the board, batting should be a very hard task indeed. Unfortunately the Thatcham spinners didn't start well enough and showed none of the control that Akhtar had earlier on in the day. Too many loose deliveries enabled Faisal Khan to race away. Chris Bird trapped Ali Ahmed lbw for 10 and when he repeated the dose to Goutham Shrikrishna (3) and then had Usman Ilyas smartly stumped by Jack Young for 5, suddenly the visitors were in the game. Khan had raced into the 40's but when attempted to reach his half century with a big hit, John Williams ripped one past him and Young did the rest to leave Slough 64-4 through 17 overs and needing a partnership. Just as Thatcham had done earlier in the day, Slough's five and six rebuilt the innings and got their side back in the game. Mohammed Awais and Danyal Akhtar both batted extremely sensibly, Awais looking vulnerable early on but battling through to establish himself at the crease. Bird and Williams had stopped causing too much alarm so with 24 overs gone, skipper Johnson opted to take the new ball and give the seamers a go with the hope of getting a breakthrough. Callum Johnson did just that as he trapped Danyal Akhtar lbw for 19 with the 5th ball of his first over. Awais was the badly needed wicket as began to look more and more at ease on a wicket that really wasn't easy to time the ball on. He passed an excellent 50 and together with Naveed Akhtar, started to dominate and take their side to the total required. Bird and Williams were brought back into the attack in the hope of taking quick wickets and although Bird bowled Akhtar for 14, the horse had already bolted. Slough 166-6 through 40 overs and just needing 19 to win from the remaining 48 balls. Rafiq went big as he finished the game in style with a big six over long off as he finished 19* but the real match winner for Slough was Mohammed Awais who finished unbeaten on 67* and had batted brilliantly to give his side the 25 points. Thatcham picked up 11 points from the defeat but will need to start winning some games if they are to stay in Division 2 next season.

Chris Bird was the pick of the Thatcham bowling as he took 4-62 from 18 overs with John Williams returning 1-81 from his 18 overs. Callum Johnson bowled just the 3 overs picking up 1-20.

Thatcham need to improve every area of their game moving into the second half of the season and it's going to take a lot of practice and hard work if the Club are to avoid yo-yo'ing between divisions.


Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 4b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
7
184		        
Josh O'Flynn Run out  8
Kieran Wood ct Danyal Akhtar 16 1
Peter Spriggs b Yaqoot Rafiq 12 1
Jamie Young b Yaqoot Rafiq 15 1
Tom Mahoney ct Faisal Khan 31
Jack Young ct Naveed Akhtar 70 8 2
John Williams ct Naveed Akhtar 6
Duncan Johnson ct Naveed Akhtar 1
Tristan Allen b Naveed Akhtar 4
Callum Johnson b Naveed Akhtar 14 1
Chris Bird Not Out  0

Slough 2 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Danyal Akhtar7.0319119.002.71
Nadeem Syed6.021700.002.83
Hamza Iqbal3.011100.003.67
Yaqoot Rafiq11.0243221.503.91
Naveed Akhtar16.424458.802.64
Faisal Khan8.0044144.005.50

Slough 2 Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 3b  
for 6 wickets
4
186 (43.0 overs)		     
Ali Ahmed lbw Chris Bird 10
Faisal Khan st John Williams 45
Goutham Shrikrishna lbw Chris Bird 3
Usman Ilyas st Chris Bird 5
Mohammed Awais Not Out  67
Danyal Alhtar lbw Callum Johnson 19
Naveed Akhtar b Chris Bird 14
Yaqoot Rafiq Not Out  19
Fasil Noor  
Hamza Iqbal  
Nadeem Syed  

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Chris Bird18.0362415.503.44
John Williams18.0181181.004.50
Duncan Johnson1.00400.004.00
Callum Johnson3.0020120.006.67
Tristan Allen3.001600.005.33

  • Umpire :
    Panel
  • Scorer :
    Ian Martin