Match Report Ramsbottom 1st XI v Haslingden 1st XI – 25th June 2023
HCC 168 for 2 (36 overs) RCC 168 for 9 (33 overs) – lost by 54 runs on D/L
Scorecard here
Disappointing derby day loss
The battle of the bottom two went to local rivals Haslingden. In fairness to the opposition I find it hard to believe that this was their first success of the season because they exhibited a fair amount of quality with both bat and ball.
Hassy won the toss and elected to bat. With rain interruptions forecast they made their intentions clear from the word go, attacking any loose bowling and taking advantage of another excellent batting track.
Unfortunately they were assisted by some average bowling with only our pro Bilal causing any problems. Our fielding also did not meet the required standard so that when the rain arrived, a lot later than anticipated, Haslingden had reached 168 for the loss of only 2 wickets. Given that there were only 14 overs left to bowl they looked to have been on track for a 250-270 score, if the innings had run its full course.
When the rain abated, after a lenghtly delay, Duckworth Lewis came into play and any chance the Rams had was blown away having to chase a revised target of 223 from 33 overs. To the layman that seemed a ridiculous ask but it is one of the stange quirks of this system, which no one can seem to explain or understand properly.
Nevertheless it is what it is and the Rams batters gave it a decent go, facing much better bowling than we delivered. Six out of our first seven got into double figures with Tom Parton (41), Jason Pyke (36) and Ben Pearson (29) the leading scorers.
Nearly all of our batsmen perished going for the runs and with the wet outfield slowing down our potential boundary strokes it was a fair effort to finish on 168, the same score the opposition had reached. Sadly that was 4 runs short of single batting point.
Man of the Match – Shared between Tom Parton, Jason Pyke & Ben Pearson
Footnote – we have now reached the half way stage of the season and remain firmly ensconced at the bottom of the league. There is still time to save our skin as we certainly have the batting strength capable of posting and chasing large targets.
Like it or like it not the amateur bowling has been our weak link this year and we need to find some consistency in this department. If we achieve this we are capable of turning sides over.
For the first time I can remember I will be away for the next two weekends but my heart will be at Acre Bottom and Littleborough hoping we can start our fightback. Good luck lads.
