Following last week’s rain affected draw with Cudham Wyse, there were no such worries with the weather as the Ramblas played host to London Intinerants in the last game of the season, keen to end the season on a high.
There were no selection nightmares for the hosts, much to the delight of skipper Michael Cooper, with Rob Dolby returning to the lineup and Rich Davies playing his first game of the season. And things got even better for the captain when he won the toss and opted to bat first, confident his batsman heavy lineup could put up a strong total.
Opening up the batting were father and son duo Keith and Rob Dolby, the pair looking in great touch early doors. It was Dolby Sr though who showed the initial attacking intent, hitting a beautiful six back over the bowlers head. The pair plundered fifteen runs in the eigth over to push the score to 44-0.
A change in bowlers for the visitors also meant a change in fortunes, as K. Dolby was caught at mid wicket for a fluent 27. Laurie Stocks was in at first drop and looked to support R. Dolby as the pair got the Ramblas to the drinks break with the score 76-1. With a platform set, the batsmen were keen to kick on and keep the pressure on the bowlers.
Alas, as with most Ramblas innings, there was a slight hiccup when Stocks and Drew Smith were both dismissed in the space of three balls. Stocks was caught at mid on for 6 and Smith was clean bowled for a duck to leave the Ramblas on 84-3.
Rehan Qureshi was in at five and off the mark with a boundary first ball. Along with R. Dolby, Qureshi piled on the runs, picking up twenty runs in the 22nd over that saw the Ramblas go past the hundred mark and R. Dolby reach fifty. The pair batted aggresively and took the score to 129 before Qureshi was bowled for 20.
Davies was the next cab off the rank and showed little signs of rustiness with the bat. At the other end, R. Dolby was in full on attack mode, hitting a flurry of fours and sixes as he raced to his second hundred in as many games for the club. R. Dolby retired after reaching his century, returning to a warm welcome from his team mates.
Matt Rudgyard replaced R. Dolby but before he had a chance to get settled with his batting partner, Davies fell for 11. Parrett was the next man in but his innings was short lived, caught on the long off boundary trying to dispatch the ball into the trees. The Ramblas finished their innings for 203-7, a more than defendable total.
Without all his usual opening bowling options, Cooper elected to open the bowling himself alongisde Mark Loughlin. The Ramblas got off to a fantastic start when Itinerants opener Fisher called a suicidal single and was promptly run out by Qureshi. The momentum swung even futher in the hosts favour when Loughlin picked up two wickets, clean bowling Wilson and Kolwar in his second over.
Cooper snaffled two wickets in the space of two overs to leave the Itinerants in a spot of bother at 25-5. Cooper’s first wicket came courtesy of a simple catch by Loughlin at fine leg to dismiss the visitor’s skipper Joshi, and his second game after Ahmed nicked the ball through to the ‘keeper.
To their credit, the Itinerants did not give up the ghost and their middle order rebuilt thanks to some sharp running and clean hitting. While wickets in hand was an issue for the visitors, keeping up with the run rate wasn’t and the Ramblas knew that they had to be on it in the field and take any chances that came.
Loughlin and Cooper were replaced by Duane Hall and Parrett respectively and the pair followed on the good work of the openers. But with the batsmen chipping away at the total, the pressure was increasing on the Ramblas.
Hall made the pivotal breakthrough in the sixteenth over thanks to an excellent catch by Parrett on the long off boundary to dismiss Turner for 35. Hall then clean bowled Tyagi for 5 with a perfectly flighted delivery to leave the Itinerants 97-7 at drinks.
The visitors kept piling on the runs despite their perilous position and with Hall bowled out, Loughlin was brought back into the attack to exert some pressure on the batsmen. Parrett picked up the key wicket of Saha in his fifth over thanks to a superb catch in the deep by Davies. While one danger man was back in the pavilion, Sinha was still in and keeping the visitors well in the game.
With 56 runs needed off the final seven overs and his four main bowlers all bowled out, Cooper turned to Davies and Qureshi to bowl at the death. The duo were calm under pressure but some big hits from Sinha meant the game was far from over. With 22 runs needed off the final two overs, the game was still in the balance. The scales tipped into the Ramblas’ favour when Davies picked up the wicket of Sinha for a sublime 64, caught at deep mid wicket by Parrett.
The Ramblas held their nerve in the final over restricting the Itinerants to singles as they claimed a six run victory.
The match was a perfect way to end the season, with everyone contributing in the club’s third win of the season and plenty of positives to take into the 2022 season.
Ramblas MVP: In a game that went down to the wire, his 100* proved crucial in in getting us to a winning score. This week’s MVPs is Rob Dolby.