Tom Inspires Rams to Great Win
Ramsbottom 1st Team v Norden 1st team – (H) 18 June 2022
NCC 231 for 5 (50 overs) RCC 232 for 4 (47.1 overs)
Scorecard here and livestream here
Facing 2nd in the table Norden the Acre Bottom boys were considered big outsiders and the pressure was immediately on when Norden won the toss and elected to bat on a track that looked full of runs.
Classy opener Tolley was soon on the front foot cutting two short deliveries for four off Jake’s first over (I personally feel that like most teams in the league we should adopt two sweepers from the word go in league matches) and Norden sped along to 23 before Grimmy trapped Malik LBW. Greg Butterworth joined Tolley at the wicket and runs flowed freely till Butterworth attempted a reverse sweep off Sen and only succeeded in lofting a simple catch to TP at slip.
This brought Ash Zaidi, the Norden pro, to the wicket and both him and Tolley looked in total control as they enjoyed a century plus partnership. They seemed to find batting so easy they became somewhat complacent and started allowing overs to tick away. Tolley eventually fell to an excellent leg side diving catch by Harry off Codge for 88 with the score on 164. The fact that he alone had faced over half his side’s allotted overs (153 balls) shows a somewhat lack of urgency and the fact that our bowlers stayed disciplined. The eventual onslaught came with Zaidi reaching his century before being well caught of the last ball of the innings but a total of 231 for 5 was some 30-40 runs short of what looked like being reached and credit must go to our bowlers who kept plugging away.
We needed decent start for the run chase and for once we got one with Tom Parton the predominant figure with Jonny Dack supporting him well as the pair put on 41 for the first wicket before Jonny was dismissed for 12. Sadly skipper Grimmy soon followed for 1 bringing our pro Sen to the crease.
Sen was content to play a secondary role as Tom continued in imperious form striking the ball to all parts of the ground in an innings of real quality. A century looked on the cards but on 88 he fell to a catch on the square leg boundary. The pair had shared a century partnership and put us right back in the game.
Json Pyke was next to the wicket but only made 4 before being bowled by Zaidi trying to force the pace. Harry Caton was the next in and he seems to have the effect of galvanising Sen. The pair ran well together and Sen took a particular liking to Greg Butterworth who he dispatched for three 6s. Harry joined in the fun with a run a ball 30 and we passed the opposition total in the 48th over with our paid man finishing on 82 not out off 100 balls.
This was a fabulous and much needed win after the shocking performance at Walsden. It shows we can compete against the best in the league.
Amateur Man of the Match – Tom Parton for his magnificent knock.
