Match Report Ramsbottom 1st XI v Darwen 1st XI – 28th May 2023
RCC 97 all out (22.5 overs) DCC 99 for 3 (23.3 overs)
Scorecard here
Embarrassment at Darwen
This was a day which I would prefer to forget as we fell to our 7th consecutive league defeat. After being shoved in when the opposition won the toss (this will probably happen on a regular basis) we lost our first five wickets with only seven runs on the board, all falling to Davies who extracted plenty of life out of an interesting wicket. Four of our batsmen appeared to be genuine dismissals but what our sub pro was doing charging down the track off only his second delivery and being bowled defied belief. When Brad Fielding came to the wicket with only 7 runs on the board he decided the best form of defence was attack. He scored all the runs until we reached 22 when we lost another 2 wickets. After this Dan Pyke, Josh Dentith and Toby Anderson managed to stay around long enough to allow Brad to smash a highly entertaining 56 not out, out of a final score of 98. Brad’s score came in 41 balls and contained 7 fours and 3 sixes. The next best contributor was extras with Darwen bowling 18 wides.
The home side as expected had little trouble in reaching or target but did lose 3 wickets in the process. One encouraging feature of our bowling was Toby, brought in again as a last minute replacement after Birdy cried off due to injury. His 7 overs produced figures of 1 for 18 and showed that he was capable of holding his nerve in the most difficult of circumstances.
Man of the Match – Brad Fielding
Footnote – the situation we are in was not helped by the performance of our sub pros, two of whom this weekend got ducks and only faced 3 balls between them. We need some consistency in the pro department, which I know we are trying to get but things are going to be tough.
