Theale & Tilehurst Friendly XI vs Purley 13th May 2001

Report by Mr Ed

This was our first Sunday league game this season and despite losing in the end by twenty runs we performed reasonably well. The Sunday League has the same format as the old John Player League (which probably means nothing to our younger players) i.e. 40 overs a side (max 8 overs a bowlers) straight win or lose.

In recent seasons, the Sunday team has had an excellent record against Purley and have had the upper hand in the most recent encounters. However, this was very much changed and stronger Purely side from the one we normally play. Batting first, Purley were quickly reduced to 26 for 2 following some splendid opening bowling from Bob Williams and Osman Mahmood, a dropped catch of Papa Smurf proved costly however and Purely were able to score freely in a third wicket partnership of 64 which included some fine batting from Beckles who went onto make 47. At 90 for two with more than half their overs still remaining, Purely were well placed, but some quick wickets from Brian Cooper (3-43) and Mark Mason (2-21) brought us back strongly into the game. Purely were however able to consolidate their innings chiefly through Jones who made a determined 62 and Hulse who went on to make an undefeated if lucky twenty-five, and finished on 188 in their forty overs.

Against a testing bowling attack on a deteriorating pitch, we fell twenty runs short of the winning target. Dennis Robertson batted well for his second fifty of the season, and six other batsman made it into double figures but nobody was able to go on and play the bigger innings which could have secured victory. It was an innings of contrast; there was some excellent running between the wickets from John Morris in particular, however Dennis and Edward Choules for two such experienced players continued to run erratically. Unable to match Purley's target it was still important to pick up batting bonus points and Osman entertained both teams by scoring some quick runs at the end.

SCORECARD
Home Team		Theale and Tilehurst						Away Team		Purley
Date of Match		13th May 2001						Played at		Theale

		Team						pts	Result	Team			pts
Result		Purley							beat	Theale and Tilehurst

1st Innings of		Purley
	Name	How Out			Who			Bowler		4's	6's	Score
1	A Schofield	ct & b						O Mahmood		0	0	12
2	Jayasurya	bowled						R Williams		1	0	4
3	R Beckles	bowled						M Mason		5	0	47
4	J Jones	ct			D Withington			B Cooper		5	1	62
5	M Nash	bowled						B Cooper		2	0	11
6	F Hoyte	bowled						B Cooper		0	0	1
7	A Brown	bowled						M Mason		0	0	7
8	G Hulse	not out								1	0	25
9	C Cox	lbw						O Mahmood		0	0	0
10	N Holman	run out								0	0	2
11	S Atkins	DNB
							Byes	6
							Leg Byes	3
							Wides	8
							No Balls	0
									Extras			17

							Wickets	9	Total			188

Bowling			O	M	R	W
1	O Mahmood		8	1	26	2
2	R Williams		8	1	28	1
3	J Codd		4	0	33	0
4	B Cooper		8	0	43	3
5	M Mason		8	1	21	2
6	D Withington		4	0	26	0
7
8

Fall of Wicket
	Score	Outgoing Bat				Stand of
1	8	2				8
2	26	1				18
3	90	3				64
4	101	5				11
5	106	6				5
6	120	7				14
7	174	4				54
8	175	9				1
9	188	10				13
10




2nd Innings of		Theale and Tilehurst
	Name	How Out			Who			Bowler		4's	6's	Score
1	J Codd	bowled						A Brown		3	0	24
2	A Moore	run out								2	0	13
3	D Robertson	bowled						C Cox		6	0	53
4	E Choules	ct & b						M Nash		2	0	13
5	M Mason	ct			Jayasurya			C Cox		0	0	10
6	J Morris	not out								0	0	14
7	D Withington	ct			A Brown			C Cox		0	0	2
8	B Cooper	bowled						A Brown		0	0	4
9	M Orriss	lbw						A Brown		0	0	2
10	O Mahmood	not out								2	0	14
11	R Williams	DNB
							Byes	8
							Leg Byes	6
							Wides	3
							No Balls	2
									Extras			19

							Wickets	8	Total			168

Bowling			O	M	R	W
1	R Beckles		8	0	32	0
2	S Atkins		8	0	23	0
3	M Nash		8	1	24	1
4	A Brown		8	1	37	3
5	C Cox		8	0	38	3
6
7
8

Fall of Wicket
	Score	Outgoing Bat				Stand of
1	43	1				43
2	47	2				4
3	78	4				31
4	108	5				30
5	132	3				24
6	134	7				2
7	143	8				9
8	146	9				3
9
10