A MATURE century from Pratik Patel was the highlight as Thame Town defeated Farnham Royal by six wickets at Church Meadow on Saturday.

Following two heavy defeats in Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League Division 2 West, Thame turned it round with an excellent all-round display.

The visitors, who chose to bat first, were kept in check by some tight seam bowling from Sam Lachlan and Will Rooney The match was evenly poised at lunch with Farnham on 78-2.

After the interval, Thame turned up the heat as the batsmen struggled on a friendly pitch.

Thame’s overseas player Vivat Jivrajani bowled well, taking 4-49 in 19 overs as Farnham struggled to 161-8 from their 60 overs.

A fine opening spell from Javed Khan had Thame struggling at 1-2 and fears of another of another defeat surfaced.

But Patel saw off the new ball and accelerated Thame towards the target, taking advantage of some wayward bowling from Duncan Bradshaw.

With invaluable support from Manoj Parmar, Patel reached his century just before Thame sealed their first win of the season in the 37th over.

He finished unbeaten on 104.