Thame 1st XI faced Henley in the final of the John Goodman Plate, at Church Meadow, on Saturday. With a good crowd in attendance, Thame won the toss and opted to bat first.
Shahbaz Meer opened up with 71 for Thame, but support was not forthcoming as the rest of the top order all fell for single figures. Hassam Mushtaq’s 43 helped boost the score, while Henley took regular wickets, before an invaluable quick 15 from Faisal Ali boosted Thame to 177 all out with 1 ball to spare.
An early LBW for Jonathan Jelfs (1-29) gave the Meadowmen a strong start, however a couple of strong partnerships put Henley in the driving seat. A flurry of wickets for Mushtaq (4-29) and a Chris Jeffcock run out gave Thame some hope, but Woods’ 65* saw Henley home by 4 wickets with 3 overs left.
A disappointing loss, in an otherwise strong season for the 1st XI in the pooled division.
Thame headed to Banbury to face Witney Mills in the final of the Wilf Bennett T20 Final.
Witney Mills won the toss, batted first and got off to a good start thanks to Buckfield’s fast 51. Teenager Luke Hayes impressed for Thame, taking 4-26, and was at one stage on a hat-trick. Andy Russell and Kelvin Burrows took a wicket apiece, and Jack Aston got a run out, but some mistakes in the field helped Witney Mills set Thame 134 runs to win.
Thame also got off to a good start in reply, thanks to Will Sutcliffe who smashed 47. However Witney Mills picked up regular wickets in the middle overs, which saw the required rate rise. With an almost impossible task in the closing overs, Oli Sutcliffe hit 25*, but ultimately Thame fell 14 runs short.
