Cross lower order blast Thame

7/18/2005

Thame 245-6 – Gerrards Cross 249-5
Gerrards Cross won by 5 wickets

Solid half-centuries from Mark Morgan and Jon Newell and a blistering 49 from David Cranfield-Thompson set-up victory for Gerrards Cross against Thame in the Home Counties Division Two on Saturday.

Thame made a slow, but solid start, with Jimmy Cook (25) and Manoj Parmar (39) laying the foundations for a large total with an opening stand of 73. Adam Kroll (54) pushed things along, but and excellent spell of spin bowling from Jon Newell (3-80) kept Thame in check.

After a quick-fire 26 from Luke Merry, Thame reached 245-6 off their allotted 60 overs.

Once again, Gerrards Cross lost an early wicket which was quickly followed by two more as they slipped to 31-3.

Mark Morgan (87*) and Jon Newell (54) shored up the defences. The Cross reached 68-3 at tea, still needing another 178 runs to win with a minimum of 25 overs remaining.

Morgan and Newell upped the tempo immediately after tea. But when Newell was run out going for a quick single and another wicket fell shortly after, the Cross still needed 98 runs to win off a minimum of eight overs.

Enter David Cranfield-Thompson, who blasted and undefeated 49 off just 30 balls. Morgan and Cranfield-Thompson blasted 101 off just 11 overs as the Cross won with minutes to spare.

The Cross play host to local rivals Beaconsfield next week, as they look to continue their winning form.