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| Tom Coleman (left) and Jimmy Phillips after their record-breaking stand of 204. Picture: Gareth Hamilton |
Punishing the bad balls in ruthless fashion, Coleman and Phillips brought up the hundred in the 19th over. Coleman went to his half-century with three runs off Thame captain Michael Beard in the next over, and when he hit Hassam Mushtaq for four in the following over it set a new mark for Horspath's first wicket, surpassing the 111 jointly set by Robbie Eason (126no) and Jamie Stead (25) at home to Buckingham Town in 2016 and by Eason (84no) and Coleman (54) against Tring Park the following year.
Phillips notched up his half-century with a single off Beard in the 22nd over. Coleman then smashed Mushtaq for six - remarkably his first maximum in the league - and the Horspath openers went past 150 when he took a single off a no ball in the same over.
The pair stepped up the run rate, and when Coleman hit Mushtaq for the third of three fours the pair plundered in the 29th over it took Horspath to 188-0 eclipsing the club's previous best stand of 186 set by Coleman (117no) and Tom Cosford (109) for the fourth wicket at Henley in 2017.
Phillips brought Horspath's 200 up with two runs off Andrew Russell. He hit the next ball for his 11th four, but was then stumped off the following delivery by Callum Russell. His splendid 92-ball knock also included one six. Coleman tucked a single into the legside off Russell to go to a fine century in the 33rd over, before Harrison Ward fired four consecutive fours off Chris Jeffcock as he raced to 24 off ten balls only to be caught by Mushtaq off Jonathon Jelfs to make it 237-2.
Seven more runs had been added when Coleman's magnificent innings finally came to an end when he was caught at short third man by Jelfs attempting to cut a delivery from Andrew Russell. His 105-ball stay included 15 fours and two sixes. Darryl Brown hit 14 off eight balls before he was run out, and it was left to Dwadesh Sehgal and Will Hawtin to take Horspath past their previous highest score of 284 when the latter took a single off Faisal Ali in the penultimate over.
Sehgal (25no) hit the first ball of the final over bowled by Jelfs for six, and Hawtin brought up the 300-milestone with a boundary off the second-last ball. Andrew Russell emerged with the respectable figures of 2-40 from his eight overs in the face of the Horspath onslaught.
The visitors took to the field without left-arm seamer Graham Beer, who went to hospital after suffering an eye injury while at work in the morning, with Elliot Ward stepping in as substitute fielder. However, it didn't stop the visitors quickly making early inroads into the Thame batting.
Will Eason had Olliver Ebsworth-Burland caught by Ward for nought with the first ball of the third over to make it 16-1, and the hosts slipped deeper into trouble two runs later when Angus Livingstone bowled big-hitting opener Will Sutcliffe with the first ball of the next over. Beard and Callum Russell set about repairing the damage, adding 56 for the third wicket when Eason pulled off a brilliant one-handed catch low to his right off Ward to dismiss the Thame captain for 11.
Shahbaz Meer made a breezy 21 before top-edging a sweep off Horspath captain Lloyd Belcher to Brown at short fine leg to leave Thame 100-4 at the midway point. The hosts fell further behind the run rate, though, as Alfie Turner bowled eight overs of tidy off-spin at a cost of 32 runs without reward. Russell was joined by James Adams and they added 55 before the former was caught by Coleman on the mid-wicket boundary off Eason for 62 off 84 balls, which included seven fours.
Just two runs had been added when Eason struck again in his next over with Mushtaq holing out to Brown at mid-off for nought. Two wickets then fell off consecutive deliveries with Ward bowling Adams for 39, before Jeffcock skied a delivery from Livingstone and Eason safely held the catch on the square to leave Thame 168-8.
Faisal Ali added 30 with Andrew Russell, before he became Livingstone's third victim for 15 with Harrison Ward claiming the catch, and the Horspath paceman completed the job when Russell was snapped up by Sehgal at mid-on for 16 to leave Thame 206 all out. Livingstone finished with 4-61, while Eason picked up 3-28, Ward 2-39 and Belcher 1-40.
Posted by: Russ