A much better few days for the club between Thursday and Sunday, with a win in the Oxon T20 competition for the 1sts, followed by a draw at home to high-flying Horspath.
That combined with a crucial win for the 2nd XI and then another win on Sunday, this time for the Sunday XI against Dorchester-on-Thames.
1st XI
Thame advanced to the semi-final of the Oxfordshire T20 knockout tournament (the Bernard Tollett Cup) on Thursday 21st, by beating Cumnor, away from home. They won the toss and batted first on a slow, turning wicket, posting 134 for 4, with good contributions from Adam Phippen (48), Mike Higgs (41) and Will Taylor (34 not out). When Cumnor replied they lost wickets regularly and were bowled out for 104 in the 19th over. There were two wickets each for Higgs, Phippen, Chris Jeffcock and George Patey. Oxford await Thame in the semi-final.
(The photo above is of Matt Mcdonald who top-scored for the 1sts with 51 against Horspath)
Meanwhile, in the Home Counties league last Saturday, they produced a much-improved display to force a draw with their local rivals Horspath, at Church Meadow. Horspath one the toss and elected to bat and good opening spells from Rooney and Lachlan meant Thame started well, reducing them to 30 for 3. However, 60 from Ward and contributions from Ali and Foster saw Horspath up to 195 for 9. In reply, Thame struggled early on and poor shots and a couple of run outs left Thame 40 for 5. However a half-century from McDonald and contributions from Higgs and Phippen meant Thame got to 154 for 8 at the end of 54 overs. They travel to Cookham Dean on the 30th for a crucial match, with renewed heart.
2nd XI
Thame 2nds travelled to 2nd-in-the-table Abingdon Vale 2nds, knowing that nothing less than a win would suffice to keep their title-challenge on track; they did not disappoint. the home side won the toss and batted but only Luke Charlesworth (69) looked really comfortable. Ali Thomas (3 for 54) took the key wickets, supported well by Ian McStay (3 for 41), as Abingdon could only manage a below-par 171 for 9 off their 53 overs. After a good start by Richard Carr (18) and Jimmy Nielsen (32), Thame scored at almost 4 an over and, with Matt Furness in charge (60 not out), were comfortable winners for 5 wickets, from 44.3 overs. The 2nds host Kingston Bagpuize 1sts this Saturday at Church Meadow.
3rd XI
Thame’s 3rd XI took on Dorchester-on-Thames at Church Meadow on Sunday in a 40-over friendly to get much-needed practice before the crunch match away at Buckingham this Saturday 30th. Dorchester won the toss and elected to bat with boundaries coming freely in the opening stand, but Matt Anderson's 2-28 pegged them back. The visitors nevertheless posted an imposing 221-4, with J. Neal scoring 79 not out. In reply, Thame set off at a gallop as Danny Thompson opened up with 23. It was very much Christian Warwick's day though as he took the attack to the bowling and hit his maiden century ending on an impressive 132 not out. With support from Evan Davies (35) and Charlie Greenhough (13 not out) Thame reached the target off only 27 overs.
