Having been put in to bat on a very green pitch, Thame got off to a good start with Christian Warwick (32) and Liam Earwicker (23) putting on 43 for the first wicket. Then, Vimal Desai held the innings together with Thame’s top score of 37. A middle and lower order collapse, in which no other batsmen reached double figures, led to Thame being all out for a below par 140. This total included a generous contribution of 29 extras.
Bletchley’s openers got off to a flying start, cruising towards the target at 111 for the fall of only 1 wicket. A forced injury timeout for former Captain Pete ‘Girders’ Tervet, who dislocated a finger in trying to take a catch, led to a rethink of Thame’s bowling strategy. A change was required to crack Bletchley’s code, and this came in the form of debutant Ed Mather (3-15), the in-swinging Jamie Wiles (3-10) and a special 15 balls for Alistair Illsley who took 3 wickets without conceding a single run. This incredible turnaround saw them lose 5 wickets on 125, and they ended with only 1 run more as Thame stormed to a 14 run win. Are Thame 3s the new Leicester City?!
Man of the match was Christian Warwick, for his solid 32 to start the innings and 3 catches behind the stumps.
Big thank you to Andy Warwick for scoring and Duncan Crockett for Umpiring.