THRIPLOW I weathered a tricky Barrington fightback to run out winners in a high-scoring game against Barrington in the CCA Senior League Two.

THRIPLOW I weathered a tricky Barrington fightback to run out winners in a high-scoring game against Barrington in the CCA Senior League Two.

Batting first, Dan Carr and Theo Giasemidis got Thriplow off to a fantastic start by putting on 110 for the first wicket. Both played patiently with the odd flicker of brilliance, Carr clipping a delightful 4 off his legs and Giasemidis using his feet well to hit successive boundaries straight down the ground.

Mark Smith bowled well for Barrington beating the bat on a number of occasions and was very unfortunate to remain wicketless from his 12 overs. Giasemidis (57) and Carr (63) both fell in quick succession as they looked to increase the run-rate.

Aly Cliffe produced a perfectly played reverse sweep for 4 on his way to a brisk 50, which he brought up in style with successive 6s. Cliffe was eventually bowled for 52 by Douglas (5-71), however new batsman Patrick Miller was equally unforgiving as he made a 31 which included a huge 6. Late wickets fell as Thriplow looked to pile on the runs, but a rapid 42* from Andy Morris ensured they finished on an imposing 276-8 from their 45 overs.

Tom Staley justified the decision to open the bowling with him by picking up a couple of quick wickets at the start of the innings to leave Barrington in trouble at 22-2 after six overs. Andrew Woolley induced the faintest of edges from the new batsman Paul Davies but, to his dismay, it was dropped by stand in ‘keeper Giasemidis. Davies made Thriplow pay heavily for this mistake as he produced a magnificent innings which included six maximums as he looked to steer Barrington to an improbable victory. He was ably supported by Greg Douglas as the pair guided Barrington into a commanding position on 174-2 in the 30th over.

The reintroduction of Tom Staley (5-44) changed the game as he first removed Douglas for 48 and then several overs later took the key wicket of Davies (103) shortly after the batsman had completed an impressive century. Brendan Lees (24) kept Barrington in the hunt before he became Staley’s fifth wicket of the afternoon courtesy of a brilliant running catch from Woolley.

At the other end, Richie Turner returned successfully to clean up Barrington’s lower order as they struggled to keep up with the run-rate. Turner bowled with clever variation to finish with 4-50 and when he clean bowled last man Steel in the last over of the match Barrington were all out for 244 leaving a relieved Thriplow side victorious by 32 runs.