While all eyes were on a match taking place over on the north side of the capital, south of the river the Ramblas were taking on Petts Wood, with an eye on revenge following defeat a few weeks ago.
Ramblas captain Michael Cooper had a relatively relaxed week in terms of selection, with Chris Thomas, Steve Fitch and Pete Ford replacing Drew Smith, Sam Ford and Haydn Evans in the side.
Cooper won the toss and opted to bat first, confident that a nice batting track and a strong top order could put on a competitive total. The skipper kept faith in his usual partnership of Ash Harriss and Alex Danks, which is hardly surprising given their prolific form of late.
The pair were looking in fine touch early on, with Harriss plundering ten runs in just the second over as they looked to get the Ramblas off to a strong start. Harriss struck seven boundaries in the first ten overs as the visitors reached sixty for no loss.
The opening pair doing what they do best
With A. Danks struggling as the innings progressed, Harriss continued to be the aggressor and reached his fifty in the twelfth over. The duo kept up the pressure on the hosts as they took the score past the century mark before A. Danks was caught in the covers off the bowling for Darshan for 38.
Dave Gambie was in at three and got off the mark with a boundary off just his second ball. He and Harriss got the Ramblas to drinks with the score on 120-1. A couple of tidy overs from Petts Wood saw Gambie dismissed for 8, caught trying to get the scoreboard moving again.
The next man is was Matt Rudgyard, who was watchful early in his innings, keen to support Harriss as he continued to clock up the runs. That still didn’t stop Rudgyard from unfurling some his signature drives down the ground as he reached 12 before he was bowled by Manesh with the score on 150-3.
A view of the sidelines
In at five for the Ramblas was Pete Ford, making his season debut, and he got off the mark with a huge maximum over the mid wicket boundary rope. Ford was in no mood to hang around, racing to sixteen in just seven balls. However, just as Ford was finding his mojo, Harriss was bowled by Manesh for an excellent 85.
Cooper was the next cab off the rank, but his stay only lasted eight balls before he was stumped off the bowling of Millward for a duck. Loughlin came in and along with Ford got the innings started again thanks to some sharp running and punishing of any loose deliveries.
The pair took the score past the two hundred mark and continued to keep the pressure on the hosts. After smashing back to back boundaries in the last over, Ford was cruelly denied a half century was he was clean bowled for a blistering twenty six ball 49. Doug Danks was bowled next ball but with one ball left in the innings, and no prepared batsmen, Cooper declared the innings on 227-7. Apologies to Millward for denying you the chance of a hat-trick!
Heartbreak for Pete
Both teams headed in the pavilion at the interval, keen to re-energise and check out the latest goings on in the World Cup final. The Ramblas knew that, while they had put on a big score, they still needed to do the job with the ball.
Cooper stuck with his favoured combo of Loughlin and D. Danks to help the visitors get off to a good start. Loughlin’s four over spell was up to his usual high standards, but despite numerous edges he couldn’t make the breakthrough.
The usual suspects open the attack
D. Danks had a shaky start but once he found his rhythm he was looking back to his very best. With Thomas replacing Loughlin, the pair bowled excellently and kept the pressure on the batsmen, even as the odd boundary pushed the scoreboard on.
Thomas made the breakthrough when he clean bowled Dipak Patel for 33 with a late inswinger. The opening partnership broken, the Ramblas felt that the scales were tipping back in their favour.
His seven over spell finished, D. Danks was replaced by Fitch who opened his spell with a maiden to ratchet up the pressure further. Alas, a wobbly second over went for 12 and the hosts reached drinks at 100-1, still needing 128 off 17 overs.
Thommo & Stitch in tandem
Parrett came on in place of Thomas as Cooper sought to keep his bowling attack fresh. After a few loose overs and a few costly boundaries, Parrett settled in and started to rack up the dot balls.
The runs drying up, the batsmen tried riskier runs and after some confusion from the batsmen as they attempted a second run, Rudgyard picked up and rolled the ball to Gambie who ran out Moore for 32.
Excellent work in the field sees Moore run out
As the tension mounted, more dramatic events were happening over at Lord’s. And after a couple of Ramblas abandoned their posts, much to Cooper’s ire, and Petts Wood’s batsmen left the field, a break in play was called to watch the World Cup denouement. Spoiler alert, England won.
Once play resumed, Loughlin, who had come on before the impromptu break, bowled beautifully to help increase the required run rate. And after playing a shot into the leg side, Dryden went for the single but some more sharp work in field from Fitch saw him run out Dryden with a direct hit at the stumps.
With Darshan Patel still at the crease, the Ramblas were keenly aware that he was the prize wicket. But along with Smith, he kept Petts Wood in the game with some lusty blows. However, some poor communication going for a second run saw Harriss comfortably run out Smith for 19.
The pendulum swung in the Ramblas favour even further in Parrett’s final over when he dismissed Darshan for 79. The bastmen, knowing he had to start finding the boundary, heaved the ball to the deep mid wicket boundary, only to find Cooper who took a stunning catch to all but wrap up the game.
Fitch nabbed his first wicket of the game when he clean bowled his bunny Peatfield for 4. He and Thomas bowled exceptionally well in the final overs to give the Ramblas a 13 run victory.
Since the Ramblas Family Day, the Ramblas have won three of their last five games and are in a rich vein of form as they host Hildenborough next week.
Ramblas MVP: Hats off to the entire bowling attack who kept calm under pressure, and Cooper who took the pivotal catch. But for their key knocks of 85 and 49 respectively, that helped put a strong total on the board, this week’s MVPs are Ash Harriss & Pete Ford.