Match Report Ramsbottom 1st XI v Darwen 1st XI – 31 July 2022
RCC 230 for 7 (50 overs) DCC 233 for 3 (44 overs)
Scorecard here
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
The opening line of Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities” summed up Rammy’s performance against league leaders Darwen.
Dealt a pre-match blow when veteran spinner Jonny Fielding developed Covid on Saturday and with Dan Pyke out with a groin strain and skipper Grimmy carrying an injury, young Toby Ashworth was drafted into the side.
Put in to bat by the opposition (Grimmy can’t seem to win a toss) the Rams slumped to 38 for 3 against some tight bowling on a wicket that appeared to help the seamers early on. A lot then relied on our pro Sen and he took to the fight playing good deliveries with caution and punishing the odd bad ball. Along with the Pin (7) they took the score to 88 before the latter was bowled by the dangerous Bowden. When Harry Caton (2) fell in a similar fashion 6 runs later we looked in serious trouble.
Enter Brad Fielding. Now Brad will admit that this has not been his greatest season thus far so the Rammy faithful were not expecting a lot. After one early rush of blood which he survived Brad settled down and produced some quality strokes in a partnership with Sen that clearly unsettled the opposition and took our score to 174 before he fell for a really well made 38.
Jake Walker then joined Sen and with Bowden now out of the attack (4 for 36 off 15 overs) the pair set about mauling the opposition’s bowling before Sen fell off the last ball of the innings for a magnificent 93 with the Rams putting together a formidable total of 230. This was by far the highest total conceded by Darwen on their own ground this season.
Despite this we knew our bowling attack has been weakened by illness and injury. Grimmy experimented by opening with Jake and Dale but this backfired as the Darwen openers raced to 60 off 9 overs before the introduction of Josh and Sen brought about 2 wickets without further addition to the score. Given such a base Darwen were well ahead of the scoring rate and with their pro and the experienced Cordingley at the wicket they were able to build a partnership without too much pressure placed upon them. Josh Dentith again proved the pick of our amateur bowlers with the economical figures of 1 for 37 off 11 overs but our other bowlers were far too expensive. Grimmy had the dilemma of when to bowl Sen to put pressure on the opposition but our cause was not helped by some really poor fielding. One chance was spurned early on and there was several incidents where we misfielded badly, the ball seeming to be like a hot potato to some of our lads.
To score 230 against the league leaders and come away with nothing is a bitter pill to swallow. With several tough tests to come we desperately need to get back to full strength and bowl and field much better.
Amateur Man of the Match – Brad Fielding, so good to see him come back to some kind of form.
