The bounce back!

The Rams two senior sides bounced back from the disappointment of last weekend’s defeats to record two fantastic victories and in a show of strength to highlight the Club’s true depth of talent.

The firsts faced a difficult trip to Norfolk, to a venue that has been the scene of a couple of failures in past seasons to face an in-form Horsford side. The hosts had finished third last year and with a settled squad were among the favourites for this year’s title. Perhaps this was the last trip you would have wanted following last week’s defeat to Copdock. The squad was boosted by the inclusion of a couple of its previously absent teachers, in Jack Beaumont and George Darlow. The Rams won the toss and opted to bat. Last year a recurring theme was a number of excellent opening partnerships which is something that hasn’t quite happened this year. This led to another rotation as Beaumont accompanied the SBCC skipper Callum Guest. Beaumont (15) started aggressively, but not always successfully and he feathered one through to the keeper, off Callum Metcalfe, with the score on twenty-three. Ethan Rice joined Guest and they took the Rams through to fifty-four at the end of the first powerplay before bringing up a half-century stand off just forty-four deliveries. Guest although not at his best was showing signs of a return to form with a couple of decent knocks last weekend; this improvement continued as he looked somewhere near his imperious best on the way to his first Rams fifty of the season (off 57 balls). The Rams three figures came up in the twentieth over. Rice (28 from 33 balls) however was dismissed when he picked out a fielder in the deep off Ben Panter (1-58) having looked in decent touch. Talking of in decent touch Rice’s dismissal brough Ben Claydon to the crease, the Cambridgeshire man looking to extend his run of fifty-plus scores to five. The Cambridgeshire pair took the visitors to drinks with the score on one hundred and twenty-seven for two. The team’s one-fifty coming just twenty-one balls later. A Claydon dominated third wicket stand of fifty arrived at just about a run a ball before Claydon added a third fifty (this one off 48 balls) to his two centuries so far this season. The Rams moved past two hundred in the thirty-sixth over. The pair brought up their one hundred stand in just ninety-nine deliveries before Guest moved to his first ton of the year (off 119 balls). He perished on the very next ball, with either a rash shot or a tired one, as Ethan Metcalfe (1-50), who had been under constant fire, had the Rams’ skipper caught in the deep. Lee Thomason then joined Claydon taking the score from two hundred and twenty-six for three to two hundred and sixty-nine. The forty-three partnership came off just thirty-six deliveries with Thomason adding a breezy thirty-one (in 25 balls). This gave Neil Hornbuckle (1-51) his solitary wicket. This brought Henry Wilson to the crease, with just thirty-two balls to go. Not for the first time going in with nothing to gain, personally. He played a superb knock by getting off strike and supporting and running hard for his partner. This allowed Claydon the freedom to play his shots and go in search of his third ton of the season. The pair added forty-seven crucial runs (from 23 deliveries) as first Claydon went to his century (from 88 balls) then the Rams went past three hundred shortly after. Claydon was out for a classy one hundred and eighteen (from 94 balls). Callum Metcalfe returned at the death to pick up his second wicket (2-53). There was just time for Yousuf Choudhary and Wilson, to sacrifice themselves, both run-out, in the last three balls. The Claydon-Wilson partnership helping to take the score to a daunting three hundred and seventeen and perhaps to deflate the home side a little.

Hornbuckle and Jason Reynolds opened up aggressively with nineteen coming from Mark Smith’s first over in contrast to James Vandepeer’s two maidens. The Rams however dismissed the dangerous Hornbuckle (25) in the eighth over with the score on thirty-seven. Ben Clilverd (1-47) picking up the opener with what looked, from the video feed, like a bit of a plan hatched with the skipper, Guest. Ethan Metcalfe then joined Reynolds (21) and the Rams were delighted when that man Claydon (1-17) dismissed the latter with the score on fifty-six in the thirteenth. Metcalfe was then joined by Jordan Neil who had scored runs for fun in his debut season last year. The right- and left-hand combination worked wonders as the pair moved the hosts into three figures in the twenty-third before moving to their own half century partnership (from 71 balls). Drinks arrived at Nelson’s before Metcalfe, getting some of his own back after his expensive bowling spell, moved to his personal fifty off sixty-six balls. Horsford progressed to one hundred and fifty just before the end of the thirtieth. If you used the old adage of doubling your score at the thirty over mark (in a 50 over match) then the hosts were very much in the contest although the rate had climbed. The pair then moved to their century stand, at not much more than a run a ball. James Vandepeer (1-35) with an absolute beauty then induced the Horsford overseas to edge behind to Thomason just four runs short of a half century (from 55 balls). Metcalfe, with a huge slice of fortune when he was dropped in the deep, then dominated a partnership with Charlie Hood that almost saw the home side to two hundred. Hood went for nine in the thirty-eighth offering another catch to Guest off Mark Smith. The Rams sniffed blood as Horsford’s skipper William Rogers when three runs and six balls later as he was trapped in front by Beaumont. Metcalfe then moved to three figures (from 107 balls) but he looked to be physically tiring as the required run rate leapt into double figures. The Rams then dismissed Metcalfe, his brother Callum, Panter and Ryan Findley in the space of ten runs and twenty-balls. Smith (3-51) picked up Ethan Metcalfe and Findley with Beaumont picking up a second to dismiss the other Metcalfe and Rice affecting a run-out to remove Panter. William Bowman and Peter Minns had some late fun before Beaumont (3-44) ended the twenty-seven-run partnership as the Rams delivered a massive win to move ahead of their title rivals in the battle of two team who were joint second in the league at the start of play.

Elsewhere in a see-saw tussle Copdock, who beat the Rams last week, inflicted a first defeat on Downham Stow, who remain top by a point from the Rams. Sudbury who tasted a first defeat last week cantered home in a six hundred run thriller to beat Frinton who started the day in joint second place. You clearly need to get early wickets against Sudbury as for the second time this year Sudbury chased down two-fifty plus score for the loss of just one wicket. Mildenhall came away with a first win to inflict a fifth defeat on AB Wanders, and Swardeston got off the mark against Witham.

The second team with much better availability bounced back in style after a torrid couple of weeks. The Rams won the toss, and perhaps in recognition of the previous failings with the bat decided to bowl. The visitors, Upwood, made an excellent , if steady, start as Mitchell Newman (23), Jack Mousley (31) and Vibhor Yadav moved them menacingly to one hundred and forty-one for two in the thirty-second over. A perfect platform to get them passed two hundred and fifty. Inevitably the Rams Darcy Murphy had picked up a wicket along with Miguel Machado. The home side rallied and took four wickets for twenty-seven runs in forty-six balls.  Spin did the trick as Julius Jackson (2-25), debutant Jay Plaha (1-14) and Jake Raven (1-43) with the prized wicket of Yadav (70 from 91 balls). The visitors recovered their composure and moved to one hundred and ninety-two for six in the forty-sixth. The visitors on the charge to make the chase a challenging one lost wickets in another flurry which hampered their efforts. Vamshi Parvatheneni, Sam Brooks, Zac Stevens and Angus Pate all perished as Murphy picked up another couple (3-30), Machado a second (2-26) and Tarun Mouli (1-43) the other. This left Craig Leigh high and dry on twenty as the innings closed on two hundred and ten.

In normal circumstances that would be considered a below par score at Sawston but it still represented a decent challenge for a batting unit low on confidence. The loss of skipper Dan Heath and youngster Henry Cotton with just forty-four on the board in the fifteenth didn’t bring much relief. Jackson (22 from 61) and Machado (20 from 26) steadied the ship but when they were both dismissed in the space of seventeen runs the game was most definitely in the balance at eighty-four for four in the twenty-fourth. Daniel Malem (2-38), Pate and Mousley made the breakthroughs. Two lads who have tasted some experience with the first team this year then combined to put the Rams back in the frame as they added eighty-two runs from ninety-four deliveries to take the home side to one hundred and sixty-six for four in the thirty-ninth. The Rams were in the box seats but Mouli (29 from 45) and Alex James (57 from 61), who made his first Rams’ fifty, both fell within three balls as Pate (2-25) and Yadav (1-41) changed the impetus of the game. The debutant Plaha (11 from 12) and overseas Murphy (32 from 29) then added a match clinching forty-six from forty-one balls as the Rams secured a morale boosting four wicket win.

The third team took their unbeaten, two game, record to Rickling who themselves were sitting joint top and unbeaten. The home side won the toss and inserted the Rams. Wes Potschul and Robbie Matthews who both returned to the side after missing last week’s victory carried on their decent form. Wes made a very useful sixty-five from seventy-one balls and Robbie a boundary laden thirty-seven (from 56 deliveries). The Rams were however, once again indebted to some very useful lower middle order runs from Nuwan Athukorala (35 from 36) and an excellent twenty-not out (from 9 balls) from teenage number ten Arnav Wadekar in order to post a challenging one hundred and ninety-four. Matt Cullingworth (4-37) dealt with the tail following braces from Robert Green (2-35) and David Boyd (2-33).

Athukorola with a parsimonious spell of one for eight from eight overs and youngster Yashitha Fernando (1-12)  set the tone before Wadekar weighed in with two for fifteen as the Rickling reply foundered with only Jack Culpin (22 from 54 balls) offering resistance. Matters got worse for the home side as SBCC skipper Jake Ellis introduced himself and finished with five for twenty, as Rickling lost  four wickets for ten runs in the middle of their innings which ended their hopes.. Only a curate’s egg of an innings from Matthew Howard took the total to some respectability. He faced thirty-six balls of which thirty were dots but he hit two fours and five maximums in his thirty-nine! Athukorala and youngster Dhrona Irinjalakudakkaran (1-7) took the last two wickets as the innings closed on one hundred and fifteen.

The fourths put up a credible display despite losing at Cambourne. The home side lost the toss and were asked to bat. In hindsight and two hundred and fifty-two runs later the skipper Dom Cameron might have regretted it! Radhakrishnan (48), Nair (31), Mahant (42) and Gupta (34) took advantage. Non-the-less the skipper would have been delighted with the spells from youngster Joel Dennington (3-30), debutant Adarshpal Brar (2-46) and another youngster Richard Nicholl (1-20). He was less happy with the thirty-seven wides and fifty-six extras in total.

In reply Richard Molton (46) narrowly failed to register back-to-back fifties. Although Marcus Wetzl (13), Cameron (18) and Sean Gardiner (22) all got starts no-one was able to go on and make a telling contribution.  Youngster Dennington capped a fine individual day when he scored thirty-two to boost the total to one hundred and seventy-seven as the fourths tasted defeat.

In an excellent week the Rams Midweek side kept their one hundred-percent record and the Junior’s recorded victories in all three age groups with some fine individual and more importantly team performances. There were some notable performances which included

Hugo Melton (2-16)

Dhrona (3-20) and 32 rtno

Kwame Darkwa (2-21)

Ethan Hayes Fernandez 47 no

Arnav Wadekar 21 no

N Vice 33 rtno

J Jordan 27 no.

The Grifframs Girls softball team have their first tournament this week, on Sunday at Babraham.