The Ramblas’ tough August continued as they lost for the third time in a row, this time to a strong Beechwood outfit.

Prior to kick off, skipper Matt Rudgyard had the honour of presenting Jason Christensen his baggy blue in honour of making his 50th appearance for the club last week. Christensen was the 17th player to reach the milestone, a testament to the efforts of the club over the years.

Jason receives his Ramblas cap

Rudgyard once again lost the toss and the Ramblas were asked to bowl first. James Dilley and Ganesh Ghube opened the bowling, and it was the latter who made the breakthrough when he had Beechwood’s skipper Freeman lbw for 9.

Michael Cooper replaced Dilley after a four over burst but despite his best efforts the visitors reached the first drinks break at 78-1 off twelve overs. Chris Thomas came on in place of Ghube and immediately picked up a wicket with a delightful off cutter that clean bowled L. Herd for 37. Thomas then picked up a second wicket in his next over when a leading edge was snaffled by Christensen at mid on.

The duo bowled well in tandem but Cooper bore the brunt of some uncharacteristically loose fielding to see the scoreboard tick over nicely for the visitors. Cooper’s efforts finally paid off when he trapped R. Herd lbw for 48, letting out a gutteral cry when the umpire raised his finger.

Beechwood reached the second drinks break at 149-4 off twenty four overs. The break proved helpful for the Ramblas when Thommo picked up his third wicket of the day courtesy of a sharp catch at mid wicket by Cooper.

Johnny Stocks and Duane Hall replaced Thomas and Cooper respectively, with the pair each claiming a wicket in the death overs. Stocks nabbed his 49th wicket for the Ramblas thanks to another well taken catch by Tom Howgego at mid off, and Hall’s wicket came when the batter found Mark Loughlin at deep mid wicket. Beechwood ended their innings on 232-7, the Ramblas feeling that they should’ve been chasing twenty or so runs less.

After tucking into an excellent biriyani provided by Ghube(‘s wife) for tea, the hosts were suitably fueled for the run chase. J. Stocks and Loughlin strode to the crease and kick started the innings but disaster struck when Loughlin was out lbw for 7 off the first ball of the second over.

Johnny on the front foot

Howgego was the man in at first drop and alongside J. Stocks managed to rebuild the innings. The pair saw off the opening bowlers and kept the scoreboard ticking over. Alas, 42-1 became 43-3 in the space of eight balls as both J. Stocks and Christensen departed.

Dilley was the next batter at the crease, and the left hand/right hand combo worked well for the Ramblas. Together they found their feet, dispatching the ball with increasing regularity, and just before the second drinks break an almight roar erupted from the sidelines as Howgego hit his first fifty for the club.

Tom salutes the crowd

The duo took the Ramblas to 96-3 at the second drinks break but it proved just the tonic for the visitors as Dilley was victim to a superb caught & bowled effort and had to depart for 17. Howgego eventually fell for a well crafted 56 and it was down to Rudgyard and Laurie Stocks to carry on innings.

Stocks was clean bowled for 4, which brought Ghube to the crease and that is when the fireworks started. Rudgyard and Ghube plundered 46 runs for the seventh wicket before the skipper was run out for 27.

With two overs remaining and a cry of ‘how many runs to fifty?!’ from Ghube, the hosts knew they in for something special. The sweetness of the hit that saw the final ball sail into the evening sky for six will live long in the memory.

Ganesh opting to go big, rather than go home…

While the Ramblas may have lost by 56 runs, there were still many things to find the joy in as we go into the final games of the season. Will another player score their maiden 50? Will Johnny get his 50th Ramblas wicket? Watch this space…

Ramblas MVP: Shout outs to both Chris Thomas for his economical bowling spell & to Ganesh Ghube for his rapid fire 34. However, for his maiden fifty that gave the home crowd something to cheer about, this week’s MVP is Tom Howgego.