Moving quickly on to Sunday’s home fixture against Theale & Tilehurst, a bright and breezy day allowed 
the match to go ahead following Saturday’s rain.

The day started well with Sunday Skipper Chris Swift winning the toss and electing to bat on what looked 
a good surface. Hooper and Vallis opened up for the home side and started steadily as the moisture in the 
pitch made it tricky to score (ooops a slight misjudgement there by the skipper at the toss). The openers 
moved the score along to 31 before Hooper fell for 12. Appleton (P) joined Vallis and after doing an 
impression that switched between Lord Vader and D’Artagnan which raised the score to 59 before Appleton 
fell for 9. Lewis Benge came and went quickly without troubling the scorers bring Swift to join Vallis. 
The pair picked up the scoring rate with a mixture of lusty blows, loopy edges and leisurely running. 
The partnership was broken by the highest, slowest, loopiest pie in the history of cricket which Vallis 
hit straight back to the bowler and was caught for 56. The ball nearly defied the laws of science and it 
definitely defied the laws of cricket logic!!!! The in form Morris then came to the crease to join Swift. 
Swift fell for 33 shortly afterwards with the total on 130 for 5 looking a little short of runs the lower 
order was going to need to come to the party. Ince joined Morris and made 6 before falling, Terry (J) then
 came in to partner Morris and the score progressed well. Morris continued his electrifying start to the 
season by amassing 42 before falling the pair added 35 for the seventh wicket to boost the total to 176 
before Cordery (0) launched his bid to reclaim the duck jacket Frost (A) fell for 4 and Terry fell in the
last over for 8. Rotherwick ITW totalled a useful 183 all out to set a testing mark for Theale and 
Tilehurst to chase.

The Theale and Tilehurst reply started steadily with Cordery (8–0–23–0) and Turnbull (10-2-30-2) bowling 
with good control. As T & T started to apply pressure the scoring rate increased leaving them 127 to win 
off of the final 20 overs of the match with 8 wickets in hand. Terry (4-0-31-0) who was out of luck with 
the ball,  Frost (4-0-33-1) who claimed his wicket with a sprawling catch from Vallis, struggled a bit as 
the heat was turned up by the T & T batsmen as the run chase picked up pace. The final set of bowling 
changes brought Benge and Ince into the attack and things began to get interesting!! Benge started 
superbly taking a wicket in each of his first three overs reducing T & T to 126 for 6, still requiring 6 
an over T & T were just about keeping up with the rate as the total closed in. Benge and Ince continued to
bowl well and tighten the screw as the rate edged upwards. The match came down to the final 2 overs of the
innings, T & T needed 21 to win off of the two overs with 4 wickets in hand, all four results were still 
possible as the match drew to its dramatic conclusion. Benge bowled the penultimate over, he went for 10 
off of the over but snaffled his fourth wicket of the innings to finish with figures of 7-1-36-4, the heat
then fell onto Ince to bowl the last over of the match T& T needing 11 to win with 3 wickets in hand. The 
over began with a single to reduce the target to 10. Ince then bowled the batsman to reduce T & T to 174 
for 8 with four balls to go. Ince followed up getting T & T’s No.10 stumped by Vallis off of the next ball
 after a long, very long, loud, very loud and vehement appeal the decision was given in favour of the home 
side. Now it came down to the final three balls of the innings for Rotherwick ITW to take the last wicket 
or Theale and Tilehurst to hit the ten runs they required for victory. To add to that it was Ince’s first 
ever attempt to take a hat trick. What happened next was the biggest choke since the invention of the 
Heimlich Manoeuvre!!!! With No.11 at the crease and the match on the line Ince shanked his hat trick ball 
so far slip was sprawling to his right to stop it!!!! The fifth ball was straighter forcing the batman 
into a shot that was closer to resolving the game in the home teams favour. So it all came down to one 
ball, another shank from Ince followed (Ince ended up with the excellent figures of 5-0-16-2) to end a 
thrilling match in an honourable draw, a fitting end to a very good day!!!