1st XI keep promotion hopes alive with the most nail biting of victories
Away to Harefield this past Saturday, Thame won the toss and elected to field. Will Rooney produced a superb spell of bowling that went largely unrewarded as the hosts got off to a steady start. Mike Higgs helped stem the run flow with a superb spell of 2-25 from his 10 overs, and two excellent catches from Sutcliffe and Beard helped keep Thame in the contest. With Harefield ready to launch in the last 10 overs, overseas pro Kanishka produced a miserly spell of death bowling and Rooney (3-52) returned to reap his rewards. Harefield finished with a highly competitive 229-9.
Thame lost opener Russell in the first over of their reply, but his partner Sutcliffe got the chase off to a rapid start with a swashbuckling 25 off just 20 balls. When he fell however, Thames hopes rested largely on the shoulders of Kanishka (pictured right) who, with the aid of a number of contributions from the middle order, took the total within reach. All seemed in order, until Kanishka was the 7th man to fall for an excellent 83, with Thame still requiring 30 to win. Now it was down to the tail and, after the fall of Mushtaq and Jeffcock, Thame’s last pair of Higgs and Rooney required a further 13 to win off the last three overs. Higgs turned the tide with two delightful straight drive in the 48th over, and Rooney saw Thame over the line with a beautiful pick up off his legs to seal victory by one wicket with 6 balls remaining.
With the top three all winning as well, Thame remain in fourth with three games to go. They host 3rd placed Chesham this Saturday.
2nd XI can’t quite force the win
Thame 2nd XI welcomed Tiddington 2nd XI to the Meadow this week. Despite losing the toss and being put in to bat, Thame got off to a very strong start thanks to an opening partnership of 118 between Matt Furness (59) and James Neilson (79, pictured right). Despite wickets from Luke Hurley (4-56) and Jamie Bates (2-33) which slowed Thame’s momentum in the middle overs, clean hitting from Ben Warwick (32) and Matt Ridgway (28) at the end of the innings helped Thame to reach a strong total to 231.
In response, Tiddington also got off to a strong start, with openers Archie Davis (30) and John Mackie (43) both contributing. However, Alastair Thomas (2-31) and Chris Penny (3-31) quickly dispatched most of Tiddington’s top and middle order, giving the home side the advantage. Despite these wickets, a resilient innings from Colin Bird (66*) meant that Thame failed to bowl Tiddington’s team out, resulting in a draw between the two sides.
Thame 2nd XI travel to play bottom of the table Horspath next week.
3s keep pushing for promotion with win against Stokenchurch
Thame continued their winning streak by beating Stokenchurch at home by 7 wickets. Having won the toss, Thame asked Stokenchurch to bat first. Once again, Thame’s ever reliable seamers gave very little away and probed the batsman right from the start. Whilst the first wicket came at 20 overs for 48 runs, Thame sensed that with this breakthrough more wickets would follow and this proved true as Stokenchurch were bowled out for 114 in 45 overs. The pick of the bowlers was man of the match Will Bruce-Morgan (4-17, pictured left) and Neil Smith (3-12). However, both Will and Neil will be grateful to James McStay (1-25), J Phippen (0-16) and Ian McStay (0-14) who all applied immense pressure early on and all 3 were unlucky not to be rewarded with more wickets. Stokenchurch’s inning was anchored by a stubborn 45 from P Langford.
In reply, Thame were cautious on a tricky wicket. Opener Andy Jinman (top score 45) and Tim Dabbs (14) gave Thame a good foundation. However, with variable speed and bounce Thame needed to keep an eye on things and indeed Ian Chappell (18*) did take a blow to the right eye(pictured below). Ian briefly retired hurt to get some treatment but later returned and assisted by a patient knock from Dave Saunders (11*), helped to guide the home side to victory in 32 overs.
Thame 3s next take on Oxford & Bletchingdon Nondescripts away.
