On Saturday Ramsbottom entertained Middleton in the 2nd Round of the Worsley Cup.
Ramsbottom progress to Quarter-Finals
Batting first Ramsbottom struggled early on against some accurate bowling and JJ Fielding was the first to go caught at mid-off after mistiming a drive. Tom Parton then seemed to pick up momentum and hit some lovely shots into the deep. He had reached 22 when he inexplicably played a wild slog and was bowled. Rehan Udwadia then joined Simon Hanson and scoring did not look easy on a track in which the ball was sticking. When Simon departed the Rammy Pro – George Linde joined Rehan.
At the halfway point of the innings the Rams were only in the 60’s.
By this time light rain had started to fall and although it was not sufficient to take the players off the field it caused the ball to skid through a bit more which aided the batsmen. Both took advantage of this and runs started to flow freely. Rehan’s end came in spectacular fashion when he was run out by a direct throw from the boundary after making 32. Alex Olpin was the next in and the fireworks really started as both him and the Pro smashed the ball to all parts of the ground in a wonderfully entertaining stand which effectively took the game away from Middleton. When Alex departed for 33 (made in 24 balls) George went on his merry way, hitting his first century for the club, finishing on 132 not out, consisting of 16 – 4’s and 3 – 6’s.
The Rams posted an impressive 263 for 7.
This total looked massively challenging for the opposition and after the opening pair had put on 37 in fairly quick time Matt Burdaky snared the first wicket thanks to a brilliant catch from J.J Fielding. Wickets then started to fall at regular intervals with only the opposition professional- Williams offering any real resistance. When he fell – LBW to Dan Pyke for a well-made 72, the Rams quickly mopped up the tail and Middleton’s innings finished on 137 with George taking 4 for 22 to complete a splendid man of the match performance which took us through to the quarter finals of the Cup.
Ramsbottom CC – 1st XI – Won by 126 runs
Quarter Final Fixture Ramsbottom XI v / Todmorden Venue – Todmorden