Match Report Ramsbottom 1st XI v Colne 1st XI – 6 May 2023
CCC 169 for 9 (50 overs) RCC 156 for 8 (37.4 overs – DL target 156 off 41 overs)
Scorecard here
Brad does his Grandad proud to see us over the line in Cup Match
On a thoroughly miserable day the Rams travelled to Colne in the 1st round of the Worsley Cup.
At the start of the game the Rams supporting contingent of eight outnumbered the home supporters on the ground with the exception of a group of sponsors who were best advised to watch the coronation on the telly.
The Colne skipper won the toss and elected to bat. The Bird and Jake Walker, brought into the side as a last minute replacement, opened the attack and were met by an onslaught by the belligerent Rhodes and Procter, who took the score to 37 in 6th over before Jake bowled Rhodes.
Jake was replaced after 3 overs by Dan Pyke and with the score on 45 he took a sensational return catch to dismiss Procter, the ball coming back at him like a bullet.
Birdy and Pykey were then able to restrict the scoring rate with the latter bowling a very economical spell and surprisingly not completing his full allocation of overs.
Birdy was rewarded with the wicket of the number 3 batsman Holt but the Colne pro Kumara looked in good touch hitting him for a massive 6 into Keighley Road.
The introduction of spin led to our next breakthrough when Josh had Rimmer leg before with the score on 76.
Although our spin attack, with Sen in particular bowling very tight, were doing a good job Colne took the score beyond the 100 mark with their paid man looking in no trouble whatsoever.
Our skipper Tom then played his trump card and threw the ball to the Pin. Having never seen him bowl before one did not know what to expect, however he rose to the occasion and on 117 took the wicket of Barnes thanks to a excellent slip catch by Sen.
Another stand followed during which Kumara passed his half century and a score of 200 plus looked on the cards. However on 141 and with ten overs remaining he lost his head and took a wild swing and was bowled by the jubilant Pin.
The Rams were then able to tighten their grip on the opposition late order and reduced them to a final score of 169 for 9 with the wickets being shared all around. Sen’s figures of 1 for 16 from 10 overs were the best return although one has to applaud the Pin’s efforts of taking 3 for 35. Despite the difficult conditions I thought the Rams fielding was very good.
Rain fell during the interval and we lost 5 overs, bringing Duckworth Lewis into play. Surprisingly our target was only reduced by 8 runs to 162.
Our openers gave us a flying start thanks to some loose bowling. Then both fell to shots they will not be happy about, Pin pulling a long hop to midwicket and TP sweeping to backward square leg, playing an identical shot he had just got away with the previous ball.
Young Seb Schofield, clearly nervous about making his 1st team senior debut, had just started to relax after hitting a straight drive for four when he took a wild swing and was bowled. Further disaster followed when Harry fell to the Colne pro with the score on 57.
Jonny Dack then joined Sen at the wicket. Our pro knew he had to stay at the crease for us to have a chance and with Jonny struggling to find a bit of form the scoring rate dropped and we started to fall below the required Duckworth Lewis score. Having taken his time Jonny decided to have a go and after hitting a lovely cover drive for four he fell to a fine boundary catch right on the very edge of the ground. Another foot of elevation and it would have been six.
To make matters worse the rain then fell and it appeared very bleak as we were 20 runs behind the required rate. Fortunately, although by now our supporting contingent had been reduced to four, the weather relented and we were able to resume.
Brad Fielding then strode to the crease with Sen. As everybody is aware this has been a difficult time for the Fielding family and I personally did not know what to expect from Brad. What we got was one of the best innings he has played for a long while, showing a great deal of maturity and punishing anything loose to the boundary. His innings of 42 from 36 balls included 3 fours and two massive 6s and completely changed the course of the game putting us well ahead of the required Duckworth Lewis target. I like to think he got a bit of heavenly help from his grandad.
After his departure we lost a couple of more wickets but with Sen determined to see us through we crossed the line in rather bizarre circumstances with Rhodes giving us 8 runs through wides, seemingly unable to hold the replacement ball after Brad had lost the original one.
Man of the Match – Brad Fielding
*This was an extended report as most supporters wisely chose not to travel.
