Cricket: Trotman stars as Thornbury edge home (From Gazette Series)

Globe Sports WEPL Premier Two 1st XI: Thornbury (249-9) beat Taunton Deane (248-8) by one wicket

4:57pm Wednesday 12th August 2009 in Sport

SKIPPER Richard Trotman hit a century and took four wickets to inspire Thornbury to a thrilling victory over promotion rivals Taunton Deane.

Trotman elected to bowl first and they made the perfect start as Dave Jones was runout without scoring.

John Wormwell bowled with his traditional accuracy and was rewarded by having Sam Shaikh caught by Chris Dent.

Grant Thompson and Phil Lewis accelerated the rate and raised the total to 150 before Lewis (45) was dismissed by Trotman.

Trotman then clean bowled both Keith Ford and Russell Jones and Greg Stephens executed a fine run out to dismiss the dangerous Thompson for 63.

Jason Squire hit some important boundaries towards the latter part of the Taunton innings before being well caught on the boundary by Nick Stovold.

Trotman (15-2-65-4) and Wormwell (13-5-32-1) were the pick of the bowlers but Thornbury dropped four catches.

Thornbury made a shocking start with the bat as Stephen Caple (2) was run out and Stovold, Juvaunie Gayle and Dent lost their wickets cheaply as the total slumped to 51-4.

Trotman and Curtis Blakemore (15) added 75 for the fifth wicket with the captain opening his shoulders and sending the ball to the boundary at regular intervals.

Stephens was trapped lbw to a ball that kept very low but Rick Wild (20) then put on a rapid 48-run partnership with Trotman before he was bowled by Reading, to leave Thornbury 174-7.

Trotman passed his century before he was bowled by Jones for a magnificent 105 off just 102 balls.

At 191-8 the game was in the balance but David Hammond and Karl Hurkett kept their nerve and maintained the run rate to keep Thornbury in the hunt.

Hammond (23) was then cruelly run out via a deflection from the bowler at the non strikers end and last man Wormwell entered the fray with 26 runs still needed for victory.

However, Hurkett then stepped up to the plate and took the attack to the Taunton bowlers. In the penultimate over he hit a straight drive for four to seal a one wicket victory and ended with a match-winning 29 not out.

Thornbury maintained their status at the top of Premier Two and travel to Cheltenham this weekend.