County League: Thorpe Arnold rue missed chances at Kirby Muxloe

Thorpe Arnold First XI, from left, back - Mark Starkey, Myles Hickman, Mark Carnell, Gallagher Plowman, James Pepperdine, Charlie Read, Tim Hirst; front - Sam Pollard, Rich Garner, Lewis Perry, Rich Randall. EMN-170613-101232002

Rich Randall’s side visited Kirby on looking to put the previous week’s disappointing batting display behind them, but on losing the toss, they were soon in trouble with the bat in bowler-friendly conditions.

The home attack just bowled stump to stump, letting the slow wicket take effect, as Thorpe were in serious trouble on 12-4 after 10 overs.

Mark Carnell joined captain Randall looking to rebuild the innings, and they batted sensibly, taking no risks and patiently ticking the score along, reaching 47-4 at drinks after 23 overs.

From then on, with the wicket getting easier, the visitors put the Kirby bowlers under pressure, rotating the strike and hitting the bad ball to the boundary.

Randall was out for another well-made 44, while Carnell batted through to the end, finishing on a excellent unbeaten 96, backed up by a quick 22 from Hickman.

A total of 202-8 looked a good score after the start they had.

Thorpe knew the top four batsmen in the Kirby side were the key wickets and Myles Hickman’s first ball hit the opener Tim Davis bang in front of the stumps off a no-ball and the opener took advantage of the escape to make 67.

Hickman bowled the other opener and then had Walker dropped on 10 to a difficult catch behind the stumps, and the Kirby captain went on to make a match-defining 68.

From then on, Walker and Davis looked in no trouble as the pitch flattened out, and it took the introduction of all-rounder Alex Renwick to remove both, trapping the opener lbw before having Walker stumped by Carnell.

But with the hosts having reached 170-3 from 30 overs, the game was almost over.

A quick flurry of wickets added to the pressure on Kirby, but they stuttered over the line in the 40th over.

Thorpe must start putting a batting and bowling display together in the same game, rather than just one or the other.

Thorpe: A. Renwick 3, L. Humphries 1, R. Randall 44, D. Exton 2, C. Read 2, M. Carnell 96*, M. Hickman 22, S. Woods 4, S. Pollard 2, G. Plowman 3*, Extras 23. Total: 202-8.

Kirby: 203-7.

Bowling: M. Hickman 12-0-50-1; G. Plowman 12-0-49-2; S. Woods 2-0-17-0; G. Exton 5-0-35-2; A. Renwick 8.2-0-44-2.