Three wins for the Rams as the thirds break their duck

Despite an impressive win for the firsts top billing must go to our thirds and fourths this week.

The third team, finally, got the win that the majority of their play has deserved. Their triumph was built around an all-round team performance where the side has stuck at it and stuck together despite their results. On Saturday they were at home to near neighbours The Chesterfords, the away side won the toss and inserted the Rams. There were early contributions from Wes Potschul (34) and his opening partner Dhrona (61). Faheem Noushad promoted from the fourths hit a well struck thirty-four but it needed a superb seventh wicket partnership, from teenagers Zane Dennington (41 no) and Arnav Wadekar (25 no) to propel the score into a very challenging two hundred and forty-two. The pair added ninety in the last ten overs. Chesterfords skipper Ross Laird (2-49) was the most successful bowler as James Hyde, Sandy Rowat and Freddie Bright picked up wickets.

Two early wickets from Wadekar (2-26) rocked the visitors before a fightback led by Laird (38) and James Taylor (53) got the visitors back on track. Hyde (70) added more middle order runs but couldn’t find a partner to make a sizeable contribution. Teen Muhammad Khan (2-26) and his dad Faheem (3-25) made sure that the hosts won by forty-five runs. Jon Windsor, Skipper Ellis, and Dhrona picked up the other wickets.

The fourth team travelled into the hills to meet Elmdon in Division 4s. The home side won the toss and asked the Rams to bat. Despite losing Richard Molton to the first legitimate ball of the innings and Trevor Nichol before the away side had registered twenty, they had recovered to fifty-four for two. Disaster then struck as skipper Dom Cameron joined teen brothers Ethan and Caelan Cashmore and Nathanael Vice as they were all dismissed within five runs of each other. Thirteen-year-old Vice was once again impressive with thirty-one. Another teen Josh Coleman then combined with the slightly older Adrian Platt (25) to add thirty-eight crucial runs. Coleman then stayed right until the end of the innings as he added a match winning eighty-six with a combination of Richard Nichol (4 from 22), Joel Jordan (11 from 20) and Alex Myles (1 from 4). Coleman finished with a career best forty-four not out and was only outdone by the extras (54 of them) as the Rams posted a competitive one hundred and eighty-one. There were two wickets apiece for Tharby (2-15), Sturge (2-29) and the Conway-Morrises (N 2-34 and F 2-30).

The game looked to be drifting away from the home side at seventy-two for four especially when Khan fell for forty-one; and it certainly looked all over at one hundred and seventeen for seven. Skipper Dom Cameron (3-24) inflicted the early damage, backed up by Alex Myles (1-42). Leading wicket-taker Platt then picked up a couple (2-21) in the middle order. However, Kodorupaka (38) and F Conway-Morris (21 no) had other ideas as they almost got the home side home falling just ten runs short. Richard Nichol (1-9) made the crucial breakthrough to remove Kodorupaka. The Cashmore’s Caelan (1-11) and Ethan (1-6) held their nerve to ensure another win for the Club’s fourth string.

The Rams first team’s love of the red ball game continued on Saturday as they eased to another eight wicket win away at Sudbury. Rams skipper Callum Guest, no doubt aided and abetted, got his pitch assessment spot on; and against the norm decided to bowl. Last week was a tough week for all groundsmen who were not afforded any relief until very late in the week.

The home side with a combination of regular openers Ned Overbury (17) and Darren Batch (25) together with number three James Poulson (11) had moved the score steadily to fifty in the eighteenth. Overbury had been the only casualty picked up by a smart catch by Ben Clilverd off the bowling of Raj Singh (1-24). However, the wheels started to come off when Sawston moved to spin from both ends, the right-arm off spin of Ben Claydon removed the resolute Poulson before a disastrous run out saw Alex Lack dismissed to leave the hosts on fifty-three for three after twenty-overs. The Rams spinners with the left arm spin of James Sykes in tandem with Claydon then strangled the hosts up to lunch. Oliver Da Costa was undone by a beauty from Sykes; Batch’s resistance (87 balls) was ended by an absolute worldy of a catch by Clilverd off Claydon. Overseas Madhuka Liyanpathiranage (7) trying manfully to stifle the aggressive side of his game finally succumbed after a thirty-seven-ball knock trapped by Claydon, and Bobby East was bowled by another fantastic delivery by Sykes. The hosts were seven down at lunch; as the Rams rushed through forty-one overs, Sudbury had lost four wickets for thirty-four in nineteen overs! Ben Reece and Freddie Cloud saw them through to lunch on ninety-six.

Reece (26 from 21) signalled his intentions with a six off the first ball after the break; clearly deciding that attack was the best form of defence, before he perished caught in the deep by Dan Andrew off Sykes. In the context of the innings the thirty-three runs added for the eighth wicket and the twenty-six for the last two wickets were massive. Cloud (15 from 35) was bowled by Claydon (4-42) before home skipper Paddy Sadler (9) was undone by another turning delivery from Sykes (4-51). Had the later runs signalled an improving pitch, as the wind blew and sun shone, or would a total of just shy of one-fifty prove tricky?

The home side backed their overseas to match the Sawston spinners as he bowled straight through his eighteen overs as the Rams were given sixty-six overs to reach the target. With skipper Guest looking comfortable and his opening partner Ralph Hayward (9) battling, both himself and the bowlers, they moved the score onto forty-six in the sixteenth. Reece (1-35) then struck to remove Hayward. From the boundary it was difficult to see how the young opener was dismissed the was a flurry of  movement from both the batter and the keeper as an attempted sweep led to the dismissal; no-one was sure was it stumped, or hit wicket however officially it went down as bowled! There was no respite however as Rice arrived at the crease looking in good touch. He added sixty-seven with the skipper (off 132) before Guest (60 off 117) was bowled by Matthew Clark just when it was looking like a pointless afternoon for Sudbury. Rice with Claydon in support moved to another half century, with a combination of solid defence and some superb driving, before the pair reached the target with Rice (63 not out from 94 balls) and Claydon (6 no off 30).

Elsewhere in the AVL EAPL Horsford’s possible ‘invincible’ title bid continued apace as they move past game nine still unbeaten to see off bottom side Frinton. There were a couple of fantastic run chases at the top of the table as second placed Swardeston were hunted down by AB Wanderers chasing two hundred and eighty!; Mildenhall moved themselves into second after a similar chase at Witham who had earlier had the side from Suffolk in desperate trouble! Ramsey’s red ball woes returned as they lost to Downham Stow and third placed Copdock beat Bury in the Suffolk derby.

The Club were denied a clean sweep when the second team went down to another defeat. The Rams won the toss and invited visitors Histon to have the first go. Openers Seb Harrison (60 from 124) and J Mynott (31 from 38) gave the visitors an excellent start and were looking exceedingly menacing at one hundred and forty-six for two in the thirty-ninth. Oliver Humphreys (1-37) and Shiv Darbar (1-51) had picked up the wickets. The Rams then hit back as Histon lost five wickets for twenty-nine runs in the next nine overs. Spinners Parth Thakur (3-33) and Adi Datta (2-33) doing the damage. The experienced Ed Hyde (62 from 94) with help from skipper John Turner (23 not out) then insured the visitors posted a respectable two hundred and twenty-five; despite Vibhor Yadav (2-32) picking up a brace.

Skipper Julius Jackson, in the absence of Miguel Machado, saw Jaykishan Plaha and Shiv Darbar fall with only twenty on the board. When the skipper (for 33 off 50 balls) and Yadav (20 from 31) fell the Rams were sixty-seven for four and thoughts of a successful chase were drifting away. Dylan Hardy (14 from 31) and Torin Phelps (4 from 21) provided some resistance with Thakur before he was run out. When both fell and were followed by Humphreys the game looked lost. Ayra Saeb-Parsy (16 from 24) then dug in to support Thakur. However Thakur’s (30 from 68 balls) defiance was ended in the forty-second before Datta followed seven balls later as Histon won by eighty-four runs. Nasari (3-42), Turner (2-19) and Butler (3-33) led the way with the ball with the experienced Leach picking up the other.