Scorecard

Harefield v Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday on Sat 20 Jun 2009 at 1.30pm
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Won by four wickets

Match report Well, what a day for Thatcham Town CC ! It all started at 6.30am as they made their way up to the Sky Sports studios in Isleworth for the Cricket AM appearance and ended up back in West Berkshire at 9.30pm, shattered but elated and 20 points better off with a last ball victory over League leaders Harefield.

Skipper Duncan Johnson won the toss and inserted the home side and the returning Ali Naqvi opened up the new ball attack with the now famous 17 year old Dan ‘The Pants’ Stephenson. Hammerton and Zimbabwean Mluleki Nkala opened up for Harefield and when Naqvi and Stephenson got their lines right, both batters struggled but few balls were bowled in the right areas and the openers got comfortable. Stephenson was replaced by Paul Jenkins, but the visitors were bowling too many ‘four balls’ and the boundary was found with worrying ease. Johnson turned to spin with himself and Nick Bishop and hoped this would check the scoring rate but the 100 partnership came up 23rd over as Nkala and Hammerton continued to frustrate. A wicket was needed and Chris Bird struck in his 2nd over, trapping Hammerton lbw for a patient 46, the opening partnership had reached 152 in the 36th over and at last Thatcham had a wicket. With such a good platform, Shiel came in and played his shots from ball one and added another 40 runs with Nkala in quick time before Nick Bishop tempted him down the track and Danny Stone did the rest and Shiel departed for 22. Nkala reached a fine century and had progressed to 112 before Johnson finally got some reward for a good spell and had him superbly stumped by Stone. Webb went in identical fashion for 11 and after such a promising start. Harefield were faltering in the quest for a big total. Bird then tempted Lynch down the track and Stone did the trick again, and when Harefield skipper Akshay Reddy was caught on the run by Steve Wyatt at long on off Johnson for 14, Thatcham suddenly had some momentum. Baldwin was then caught by Stone off Bird, giving the keeper a fine 5 victims, 4 stumped and 1 caught and Harefield stumbled over the finishing line with 253-7 from their 52 overs. It was a fine comeback by the visitors with skipper Duncan Johnson bowling 18 overs unchanged to claim 3-79 and he was ably supported by Chris Bird, 3-37 from 6 overs and Nick Bishop 1-39 from his 7 overs. All 7 wickets to fall had fallen to the Thatcham spinners who had done a super job for their side.

Ali Naqvi and James Ettridge had the job of getting Thatcham out of the blocks in the run chase and the intent was clear when Naqvi took Nkala’s first over for 14 runs. Naqvi was looking in excellent touch, driving with supreme authority and when the bowlers dropped short, they were pulled to the boundary with savage ease by the former Pakistani international. Ettridge was offering good support at the other end and unleashed a few of his own trademark midwicket boundaries as another 100 run opening partnership was posted in exactly the time as the Harefield innings. It wasn’t until the 25th over that the home side had any success, Reddy claiming the wicket of Ettridge, lbw for 32. Danny Stone came in at 3 and had license to play his shots and he raced away and looked in sublime nick before he edged an expansive drive off King to keeper Knife for a quickfire 35. Steve Wyatt came and went, leaving in form skipper Johnson to join Naqvi in the chase for victory. With Harefield now adopting the tactics of 9 men on the boundary when Naqvi was on strike it was now becoming increasingly difficult to puncture the line, but Johnson hit a couple of successive 4’s off Nkala and a towering 6 off King before departing for 25, superbly caught by Baldwin off Nkala. It was left to Naqvi and Danny Williams now, and Naqvi went past a chanceless 100 in his first game since returning, but even he had to succumb to the Harefield tactics in the end, as King took a catch in the deep, again off Nkala, and it was a tired Naqvi that returned to the dressing room with 113 to his name. Thatcham’s strength though lies in a long batting order and the experienced Matt Denness joined Williams and the pair kept the chase going and now needed 33 runs from the last 4 overs. 12 runs came off the 45th over from Nkala, Williams deflecting a 4 and then hooking a 6, and the runs required were now 21 from 3 overs. King bowled a tidy 46th over though, only 5 runs the result, so now 16 were needed off 2 overs. Nkala conceded 10 runs from it, Denness slaying a boundary over deep midwicket and Williams again deflecting one where slip could have been and it was now down to a run a ball as King came in for the 48th and final over of the match. Williams sneaked 2 from the first ball and then a single from the second, leaving 3 runs from 4 balls now the equation. Denness then missed the next delivery but Williams sprinted through before the keeper couldn’t release his throw and it was now 2 from 3 balls. Denness tried the same thing the next ball, but this time the throw from Knife beat him and he was run out for 8. 2 runs from 2 balls now needed as Paul Jenkins took his place at the crease. King came in and a leg bye was the result leaving the visitors needing 1 run from the last ball for a famous victory. The field came up as King raced in, Williams connected with a clip through midwicket only to hit a Harefield fielder close in, but fortunately before he could recover, Jenkins had sprinted through to complete the run and leave Thatcham the victors by 4 wickets, Williams unbeaten on 22 in a fine knock on his return and a 20 point haul to leave the West Berkshire side in 3rd place and well placed for a second half of the season assault on the TVL 1 title.

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 6 wickets
0
254		        
Ali Naqvi Caught  113
James Ettridge Lbw  32
Dan Stone Caught  35 1 4
Steve Wyatt Caught  0 1
Duncan Johnson Caught  25
Danny Williams Not Out  22
Matthew Denness Run out  8
Paul Jenkins Not Out  0
Nick Bishop  
Chris Bird  
Daniel Stephenson  

Harefield Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Harefield Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 7 wickets
0
253 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ali Naqvi13.044000.003.08
Daniel Stephenson3.001400.004.67
Paul Jenkins5.003100.006.20
Duncan Johnson18.0179326.334.39
Nick Bishop7.0039139.005.57
Chris Bird6.0037312.336.17

  • Umpire :
    Panel
  • Scorer :
    Ian Martin