Hughes century not quite enough for Cross

6/26/2010

Gerrards Cross 254-10 (59.1 overs)
Thame Town 255-8 (49.1 overs)
Thame Town won by 2 wickets

Gerrards Cross suffered their second defeat of the season on Saturday, going down by two wickets at home to Thame Town despite a brilliant century from Jonny Hughes.

On the hottest day of the year so far, the Cross had no hesitation in batting first on a hard track with a lightning quick outfield which bore some resemblance to the Sahara desert.

However, things didn’t go to plan. Excellent bowling from Michael Beard (1-9 off 7 overs) and Pratik Patel made run scoring difficult early on as the Cross slipped to 62-3.

Hughes and Ian Cockbain shared a fourth wicket stand of 70 to put the Cross back in the game. But two quick wickets after lunch handed the initiative back to Thame.

Hughes and Steve Rimmer were forced to consolidate for a while with 16 runs coming from the next seven overs and the minimum target of 250 looked a long way off.

The acceleration eventually came in the forty-eighth over as Hughes led the onslaught racing from 63 to 130 in 42 balls. Wickets tumbled in the final overs. Hughes hit two consecutive sixes and was then bowled trying to hit a third. Michael Fabish-Wood came and went second ball for six and the Cross were all out for 254; about 30 runs short of a potentially match winning total.

Hughes’ 130 came off 153 balls and included 10 fours and 8 sixes.

Pratik Patel was the first Thame wicket to fall, yorked by Tom Hampton with the score on 37. But Michael Beard (50) and Chris Wynd (48) put Thame firmly in the driving seat with a second wicket stand of 69.

Two wickets for Rimmer gave the Cross hope. But Manoj Parmar hit his first three balls for four in a whirlwind innings of 66 off just 48 balls and there seemed no way back for the Cross.

However, as Thame moved closer to victory, the nerves set in. A suicidal run-out, some reckless stroke play and some good bowling resulted in Thame losing three wickets in five overs.

Ed Barnett tied the scores in the penultimate over and then pushed a single off the first ball off the last over to give Thame the win.

The Cross travel to local rivals Beaconsfield next weekend.