Match Report Ramsbottom 1st XI v Norden 1st XI – 4th September 2022
NCC 256 for 9 (50 overs) RCC 257 for 3 (44.3 overs)
Scorecard here
Hi Ho the Silva Lining at Stag Park
A disappointing turn out from the Rammy faithful witnessed a comprehensive win against high flying Norden.
Grimmy, having won the toss for a change, decided to allow the opposition to take first knock on a track that looked full of runs. The decision looked to have paid off when Toby bowled the Norden skipper Malik and then Jake captured the prized wicket of Tolley with only 17 runs on the board. This brought Zaidi, the Norden pro, to the wicket to join Fitton. This was Zaidi’s last game at his home ground before his retirement after a fantastic career in the pro ranks and it was clear from the way he started he was going to go out with a bang.
Indeed both batsmen took the attack to the Rams bowlers and runs started to flow freely against some indifferent bowling. The score rocketed past 100 in no time and it looked like we could be set a target of 300+. The introduction of Pykey seems to stem the flow a little as he bowled a decent length and line and he eventually got the breakthrough when he drew a false shot out of Fitton and saw him well caught a short cover by our pro Ashen, with the score on 139.
Zaidi was then joined by Greg Butterworth and the scoring rate continued at a fast pace from one end although our pro was keeping it fairly tight from the other.
The big breakthrough came with the score on 191 with Zaidi himself on 91 and looking comfortably set. He went for a big hit off Grimmy and looked to have nailed it. Unfortunately for him Josh was on the long on boundary and he positioned himself perfectly and made an extremely difficult pressure catch look simple.
This was the incentive the Rams needed and with Ashen tying up one end up and overs passing by wickets began to fall. Four of the last five wickets fell to boundary catches and at the end of the innings the Rams must have been relieved at having to chase a target of 257.
Our fielding was once again good on an outfield that was rapid but did not reach the standard of the square and we took our catches well. Grimmy ended up with four wickets and Jake three but Ashen, although wicketless, was our best bowler in terms of economy rate.
Tom opened the batting with JD and immediately took 8 off the first over with 2 fours. Sadly he was out in the second over when he seemed to check his shot and was caught at deepish mid off.
This brought Ashen to the wicket far sooner than he probably wanted. Nevertheless he soon settled down and was quick to have word with JD who edged a shot through the slips and got a bit of stick from the bowler. This little bust up must have had the deserved effect on JD because he started to play in an insouciant manner much to the chagrin of the opposition. There was no middle ground in his innings, he either blocked the ball or hit it for four. When he holed out for 44 at deep mid on his innings had included ten boundaries. The in-form Grimmy came in at number 4 and seemed to be settling in nicely until he unfortunately played on to put us on 93 for 3 but with plenty of overs remaining.
Enter Harry C to a tricky situation but with a superb track to bat on. Right from the word go he, like Ashen, looked comfortable and runs flowed feely. Both batsmen were quick to pick up and punish the loose deliveries and despite several bowling changes by the Norden skipper nobody troubled our pair.
It was quite a comfortable watch for our supporters as the score mounted and such was the manner of the way they played their innings it came as no surprise that we reached our target with plenty of overs to spare. Ash finished with a magnificent 117 not out and Harry 64 not out in a partnership of 160. What was very gratifying to see was the Norden captain shaking the hand of our pro when he reached his century.
Amateur Man of the Match – Harry Caton.
