Rammy chase down over 200 to keep T20 hopes alive
Ramsbottom 1st XI beat Littleborough 1st XI by 6 wicktes – 10 June 2022
Scorecard is here
Ramsbottom travelled to Littleborough CC knowing that only a victory would keep their T20 qualification hopes alive. At a busy Littlebrough, Ramsbottom lost the toss and were invited to bowl. This week’s strip was also towards the edge of a wide square leaving one large boundary square to the wicket, a shorter one at the other side (still a big hit) but one short straight boundary down the ground.
After a slow first over the Littleborough openers Zac Perren and Matthew Herron soon got to grips with the Ramsbottom attack dispatching the ball numerous times over the boundary. After 10 overs Littleborough were 115 for 0. Captain Kieran returned to the attack and managed to get the wicket of Herron (89 runs off 40 balls) followed by Alex Olpin’s middle pace dismissing Perren (43 off 35 balls) leaving Littleborough 137 for 2 with 7 overs left. With new batters at the wicket the Ramsbottom bowlers kept a tight line and aided by some sharp fielding, including 2 run outs, managed to keep the final score down to 206. Alex Olpin ending up with 2 for 20 off 3 overs.
The consensus amongst the eleven Ramsbottom fans was that it could have been a lot worse and that whilst a big chase there was hope after getting near to a larger total the week before.
After the early loss of Brad Fielding, Kieran and Sen played themselves in and then started to accelerate the scoring. At the halfway stage Ramsbottom were 89 for 1 with two runs a ball then needed for victory. With Sen dropped in the outfield the Ramsbottom batters continued to accelerate with both passing 50 and after 14 overs the score was 132 for 1. Littleborough turned to their former England international Schofield who dismissed Sen (95 off 47) and Kieran (50 off 42) in quick succession before catching out Tom Parton. With over two a ball needed and two new batters at the crease, the odds were significantly in favour of the home team. Enter Jake Walker and Harry Caton. With intelligent shots and great running the two youngsters got to the last two overs with 30 needed. A chest high no ball put over the wicketkeeper’s head for 6 by Harry Caton enabled the lads to plunder 19 off the penultimate over and also leave Harry on strike to face Schofield with 11 needed. Harry smashed a 6 early in the over before hitting the penultimate ball for 6 to win the match. Jake Walker (10 off 9) and Harry Caton (40 runs off 16) put on 56 runs at over two a ball to cap a magnificent chase.
With Rawtenstall surprisingly beating Norden, two more big wins for Ramsbottom over Rawtenstall and Greenmount should put them in the mix for qualifying.
Iain Round
