The sun was out in full force as the Ramblas took on Hildenborough for the second time in two weeks. Buoyed by a first win of the season at Chislehurst the previous week, the Ramblas were full of confidence.
While confidence may have been brimming at the club, that wasn’t the case when it came to player availability, with a slew of regulars unable to play. But never one to back away from getting a side out, captain Cooper pulled in some favours from NatWest Blues that saw James Dilley play his first game for the club since 2014 and Duane Hall and Kieron Gibbons make their Ramblas debuts.
Jason Christensen also stepped in to make his debut and Tom Danks made his return to the fold and the Ramblas had once again cobbled together an XI. With such a patchwork team, Cooper was a pensive man at the toss. Luckily for him, the toss was lost and the decision was taken out of his hands. Hildenborough were batting first.
With such a bowler heavy lineup, Cooper made a break from the norm and opened the bowling with Doug Danks and Chris Thomas. Thomas picked up a wicket in the first over thanks to a smart catch over his head by Mark Loughlin to dismiss Smith for a duck.
D. Danks’ luck was distinctly lacking in his five over spell, with a plethora of catches going down off his bowling. Chuck in some big hitting batsman and a quick outfield and the runs were starting to pile up. Hall came on in place of D.Danks.
Geoff Parrett replaced Thomas and immediately picked up a wicket, clean bowling J. Goldup for 18. That was as good as it got for Parrett as Webb and Davies continued to dispatch any loose bowling to the boundary. Hildenborough reached the drinks break 145-2 and the hosts were starting to despair.
Needing a breakthrough, Cooper turned to Dilley and he did not disappoint. Along with Hall, the pair picked up three wickets in four overs to swing the game back in the host’s favour.
In his fifth over Hall clean bowled the visitor’s skipper for 53 with a perfectly flighted delivery. In his final over, he picked up the key wicket of Davies with another clean bowled for 65. Dilley then trapped Chapman LBW for 6 in the very next over.
With Hall bowled out, Cooper turned to Gibbons to help keep up the pressure on Hildenborough. Gibbons picked up a wicket in each of his first two overs, both being maiden overs for good measure.
Gibbons then picked up his third wicket thanks to a fantastic one handed catch from Christensen at square leg. Thomas returned to the attack in place of Dilley and the duo kept things tight as Hildenborough finished their innings on 192-8.
It was a remarkable turnaround in fortunes, as the club restricted the visitors to just 47 runs in the final 17 overs to give themselves an attainable target.
After enjoying another fine socially distanced tea break, T. Danks and Loughlin padded up and got ready to the innings off to a good start. The duo took the score to 14 in two overs before T. Danks was clean bowled by a ball that kept low.
Cooper came in at three, playing the anchor role as Loughlin kept the scoreboard ticking over. The skipper got off the mark thanks to an edge that raced to the boundary. Smart, and occasionally knackering (for Cooper at least), running continued to keep the fielders on their toes.
Loughlin reached a well deserved fifty as the pair put on a 78 run partnership before Cooper was caught at extra cover for a gritty 12. Christensen was the next man in and was in the runs first ball, smashing a delivery back over the bowler’s head for four.
Christensen’s tenure at the crease was short lived, as he was caught at mid wicket for 5 going for another big shot. Gibbons was in at five and joined Loughlin at the crease with 95 runs still needed for victory.
Loughlin was fully in his stride, going through the gears hitting two massive sixes as he raced towards his maiden century. He didn’t have to wait long for it to arrive, reaching the milestone in just 69 deliveries. And in a great gesture of sportsmanship, he retired not out.
Parrett replaced Loughlin and both he and Gibbons made short work of the remaining runs. Parrett smashed 14* off just four balls and Gibbons made 40* off 32 balls as the Ramblas chased down the target in 25.2 overs.
It was another excellent team performance with everyone chipping in at various stages of the match. It may have looked dicey midway through the first innings but a steely resolve helped the Ramblas pick up their 50th win as a club.
Ramblas MVP: Mark Loughlin. An imperious & perfectly paced innings. Honourable mention to Kieran Gibbons for his 40* and 3-8 on debut.
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