Despite the weather’s best efforts, the Ramblas secured back-to-back victories thanks to a four-wicket win over Battersea Eagles.

A desire to beat the rain mixed with a late-arriving opposition meant the Ramblas began by fielding, with their overseas player Ian Dacre opening the bowling with Chris Thomas in what was – momentarily, at least – glorious sunshine. And things began brightly for the hosts, with Thomas nabbing a wicket in his second over and Dacre unlucky not to claim a scalp in a spell showing no ring rustiness as the visitors struggled to score.

While we welcomed back an old face (not an old face, but an old face – oh you know what I mean…) in the shape of Unbelievable Dakkers, there was also a debutant in our midst, Ganesh Ghube becoming legacy number 123 for the Ramblas. Ghube took over from Thomas at the Tennis Courts End to deliver a fine four-over spell, claiming a wicket with his fast left-arm bowling as he and Michael Cooper – fresh from a two-week break nursing his knackers – ensured there was no let up in pressure.

Cooper was in fine fettle, taking a wicket courtesy of a great forward diving catch from Mark Loughlin, before adding to his tally by bamboozling the batter into thinking about six different shots, but playing none, as he was bowled.

Meanwhile, Duane (“The Village”) Hall was next into the attack having replaced Ghube and continued the good work of his counterparts, with two more wickets in a stellar start to the season, the first courtesy of a calm catch by Jason Christensen in the gully.

With Cooper in full flow, the heavens opened and threatened to put an end to the game. The groundstaff were quickly in action to put the cover on and as the rain came down, an early tea was taken, with the visitors on 102/6 after 19.3 overs in what had originally been a 30-over contest.

As the rain continued to come down, hopes were not high for a resumption, but patience and optimism were rewarded with some sunshine, and the visitors returned to bat in what was now a 25-over game. Further good bowling from Cooper, Hall and Thomas to go along with a wicket for Loughlin restricted the Eagles to 134/7 at the end of their innings.

Conscious of the likelihood of more rain, a speedy turnaround was enacted, with Seth Clifford and Kieran Gibbons opening the Ramblas batting and it looked like quick runs were the order of the day if the weather was to be beat. The former struck well for 10, with Christensen coming in just as the rain got heavier and was given a reprieve as he was bowled off a dead ball, with Ramblas very own captain of chaos, Matt Rudgyard, calling the teams in during the bowler’s run-up.

A relatively short, but nervy, break was endured as hopeful looks to the skies looked to go unheeded, with a few crashes of thunder thrown in with the rain for good measure. However, as George Harrison (he was in The Beatles, James…) once sang, All Things Must Pass and pass the clouds did, enabling the teams to get back out there on what felt like their last chance to actually finish the game.

Christensen wasn’t fully able to take advantage of his second life, departing for six, before James Dilley came and went with a quick-fire 13 and Dacre came and went for an even quicker duck to leave the Ramblas on 54/4.

Loughlin (7) and Ghube (6) scored quickly, but weren’t in long enough to help Gibbons build on the platform he had helped build at this stage, with the scorecard reading a very Ramblas 75/6 as Hall entered the fray and the hosts’ nerves started to, if not jangle, then they were certainly loosening up.

Alas, despite some stress-inducing swipes from Hall getting Rudgyard’s heart rate going, it was a pretty serene final partnership of 60 between Gibbons and Hall that saw the Ramblas over the line with 3.2 overs to spare, as Gibbons made a fine, chance-less half-century to anchor the innings and secure the four-wicket victory.

It was another strong showing from the Ramblas, in difficult circumstances, but kudos to the patience and willingness to continue of the visitors who gamely persevered in less than ideal conditions and helped to get the covers off to restart the game.

Ramblas MVP: A two-week hiatus did nothing to quell the fine fielding and continued dangerous bowling of Michael Cooper, but for his textbook innings for the chase, Kieran Gibbons is definitely the right choice this week.