Relegation looms as Town are outgunned
Thatcham remain deep in trouble after another batting collapse
THATCHAM Town are second from bottom in Division 3A following a six-wicket defeat to Harpsden as the Thames Valley League season approaches its final weekend.
Thatcham captain Steven Bartholomew won the toss and opted to bat, but was soon made to regret his decision as his side slumped to 127 all out.
Openers Ben Denton-Powell (39) and Michael Klichowicz (31) made a solid start, but Thatcham suffered an all-too-familiar batting collapse.
Harpsden reached their target for the loss of four wickets in just 23 overs to condemn Thatcham to their ninth defeat of the season.
Thatcham 2nd were edged out by a single wicket against Taplow but remain two points clear of bottom side Henley 3rd in Division 4A.
Thatcham were put into bat, but made an excellent start as openers Simon Lewis and Tommy Mather combined for an opening stand of 112 before Lewis was out for 53.
Mather went on to top-score
with 77, adding 49 for the second wicket with Benjamin Copeman (51) as Thatcham posted 266-6 from their 45 overs.
Then Thatcham’s Sam Dillaway (3-52), Ollie Thorne (2-34), Tommy Mather (2-38) and Josh Reeves (2-52) reduced Taplow to 263-9, but the final pairing survived to creep over the line
in the last ball of a dramatic innings.
Thatcham 3rd continued their Division 8A campaign in style with a thumping 116-run win over Bradfield 2nd.
Thatcham posted 276-7 from their 40 overs that included a memorable unbeaten 115 from opener Jack Noble, as well as a valuable 66 from Alistair
Howell.
Thatcham then restricted Bradfield to 160-6 from their 40 overs thanks to two wickets for Tim Mahoney – who conceded just seven runs from his eight overs at an economy rate of 0.88 – and a wicket each for Ravi Mirchandani (1-19), Perry Moore (1-23), Shlok Chopra (1-33) and Martin Paice (1-45).