Refreshed after a two week brake following their humbling defeat to Hildenborough, the Ramblas were keen to start the last month of the season on the right foot. However, things rarely run smoothly for the hosts.
Ramblas skipper Michael Cooper started the week struggling for players but thanks to Ben Sheridan making his Ramblas return and Mark Loughlin securing the services of debutants Keith Dolby and Matt Lynch, the hosts managed to put together a complete lineup. Original opponents Hildenborough weren’t so lucky and had to pull out of the fixture, but fortunately a home pitch was secured and Battersea Eagles once again stepped up to fill in.
Cooper lost the toss and visitors elected to bat, with Luke Sheridan and Loughlin being tasked with opening the bowling. Loughlin was at his miserly best, conceding only two runs in his five over spell and L. Sheridan quickly found his rhythm and got his reward in his second over when he clean bowled Abi with a delivery that clipped the top of off.
B. Sheridan replaced Loughlin and bowled beautifully in tandem with his brother. Unfortunately for the two, Battersea’s number three was in imperious touch and boundaries were coming regularly. The younger Sheridan picked up the second wicket of the day to dismiss the Eagles’ other opener thanks to a sharp catch on the move by Geoff Parrett at mid off.
Ramblas openers get things started
With L. Sheridan bowled out, Cooper came on in his place but got the treatment from the big hitting middle order as the visitors reached drinks at 102-2. The Eagles initally kicked on to take the score to 128-2 off 20 overs.
Parrett came on in place of B. Sheridan but it was Cooper who made the all important breakthrough in his fourth over. With the first ball of the over, he dismissed visitor’s skipper thanks to a juggling catch by L. Sheridan at deep mid wicket.
Luke takes the catch
The next ball Cooper picked up the key wicket of the Eagles’ number three when the batsman mistimed his shot and Loughlin took a good catch at long on. To the surpise of everyone Cooper found himself on a hat-trick. The Ramblas crowded the bat and looked on as a full and straight delivery was missed by the batsman and crashed into the stumps. The Ramblas skipper became the sixth person to claim a hat-trick for the club.
Cooper claims his hat-trick
Cooper’s purple patch continued, picking up his fourth wicket the following over thanks to a simple catch by Loughlin at mid on. And the skipper claimed his fifth wicket in his penultimate over when B. Sheridan snaffled an excellent catch at short fine leg.
Parrett was bowling superbly in tandem with Cooper and finally got his rewards when Loughlin took another catch, this time at cover. The Ramblas king of spin finished his spell with figures of 7-1-15-1, a fantastic day at the office.
Johnny Stocks and B. Sheridan were tasked with bowling the death overs and the pair did not let the skipper down. J. Stocks picked up a wicket with just his third ball when a top edge from the batsman landed safely into the hands of Loughlin at mid on. B. Sheridan picked up the final wicket of the game with the first ball of his second spell, with Loughlin claiming his fifth catch of the innings.
The Ramblas fought back well after the drinks break and with the Eagles all out for 161, they knew they were in the game.
After a quick turnaround, Dolby and J. Stocks were sent out to open the batting. Sadly for J. Stocks he departed in the first over without troubling the scorer.
Lynch was in at first drop and along with Dolby dug in to see off an excellent opening bowling attack. Runs were tough to come by and the pressure increased when Dolby was given out LBW for 5.
Ramblas debutants at the crease
Jason Christensen was in at four and along with Lynch plundered 22 runs in the tenth over to swing the momentum back in the hosts favour. Christensen was in an aggressive mood, smiting five boundaries as he raced to 25 before being bowled by Safi.
The fifth man in was Laurie Stocks and he played the anchor role as Lynch kept the scoreboard ticking along. The pair took the score to 90-2 at the drinks break and the game was delicately poised.
Lynch and L. Stocks for the score past the century mark before L. Stocks was out for 7 thanks to a great caught and bowled from the bowler. The Ramblas were dealt another blow when Lynch was dismissed by another brilliant catch for 70.
With the score now at 111-5, Matt Rudgyard and L. Sheridan were tasked with rebuilding the innings and ensuring the Ramblas kept up with the run rate. The combination of some quick running from L. Sheridan and clean hitting from Rudgyard saw the duo keep the hosts in the game.
Matt back in business
Rudgyard fell in the 29th over for a fluent 12, bowled by the Eagles danger man Adnan. Loughlin came to the crease and announced his arrival with a six over the fine leg boundary.
Sheridan was out for 6 with the score on 140-7 and the Eagles were in the driving seat. But with Parrett at the crease, the Ramblas were never out of it.
Alas, some more excellent bowling from the visitors saw the boundaries dry up and Parrett was trapped LBW for 2. B. Sheridan joined Loughlin but with 12 needed off the last over, the pair could only managed four as the Ramblas fell 7 agonising runs short of victory.
Ben opening his Ramblas account with the bat
It turned out to be another fantastic contest between the two sides. Despite the defeat, it was a tremendous performance from the Ramblas, with everyone pitching in at various points.
Ramblas MVP: Honourable mentions to debutant Matt Lynch for his nearly match winning 70 and Mark Loughlin for his five catches in the field. But for a fiver-fer and a hat-trick, this week’s MVP is Michael Cooper.