Reigning champions toppled in clash of titans

With the top three playing matches that they were perhaps favourites to win, the Rams visited their joint fourth placed rivals Swardeston in a game that they both needed to win, and probably one that  neither could  afford to draw. A contest between these sides that have equally shared EAPL titles over the last four seasons is always meaningful in itself without considering the broader picture. The Rams were buoyed by last week’s win against long term leaders Copdock and by winning the EAPL T20 title, for the first time ever, on Friday night. In contrast the home side were coming into the game on the back of a defeat to Norfolk rivals Witchingham, and missing a few key players through injury (something the Rams have also suffered with this term). The home side were missing skipper Lewis Denmark, batter Alfie Cooper and bowler Matthew Taylor.

The Rams won a good toss, before the game and before seeing the surface they would have followed last week’s plan of bowling first but following a pitch inspection of a slightly worn used surface opted to bat. Sawston, and Wayne White in particular, got off to a flier. On a surface that offered some assistance to the quicker bowlers White and partner, Callum Guest, raced to another half-century opening stand from just fifty-seven balls. The lightning paced outfield, particularly square of the wicket, ensuring excellent value for well timed shots. White moved to his own half century (with ten fours) from just forty-seven balls. The pair had moved the score onto seventy-three before the Rams old nemesis Callum Taylor (2-27) struck twice within the space of three runs. Taylor, like  our own Ben Clilverd has struggled with a shoulder injury for most of the season. First, he had Guest (14 from 32) caught behind and then four balls later, in his next over had White caught, hooking, in the deep. The contrast in fluency between the batters perhaps an indication that the surface wasn’t quite as straightforward as White had made it look at times. The hardness of the new ball had helped but by the end of the fifteenth over the scoring rate had begun to dip. Jack Beaumont joined Lee Thomason and their first task was to see off Taylor which they did. The home side then took a bit of pace off with spinners Saranga Rajaguru and Richard Sims being introduced. The Rams moved into three figures in the twenty-second over with the second fifty coming off a more sedate seventy balls. The Sawston pair both struggled for fluency. They however combined to reach their own fifty stand from ninety-three balls. The pair were just looking like setting up the innings perfectly, with the lunch break just eight balls away, when Beaumont (18 from 51) was stumped by Harry Barker off Rajaguru. Ethan Rice joined Thomason as the Rams made it to the break with the score on one hundred and forty for three after thirty-six overs. Gauging opinion at the break a few thought whilst the nature of the pitch, and the fact the bowlers were always in the game made it difficult to assess a ‘good score’ the majority thought two hundred and fifty would be defendable.

After lunch the emphasis was to build the score steadily and hopefully not lose an early wicket, this perhaps gave the Sawston pair their best opportunity of the season so far and both responded with probably their best knocks for the Club so far. They moved the score to one hundred and fifty, in the fortieth over. Just nineteen balls after lunch. Thomason who looked a bit more fluent after the break then moved to his first league fifty for the Rams (from ninety-one balls). The pair’s half century stand (from eighty-three balls) came up as Thomason hit Rajaguru for six in the forty-ninth over. The next milestone, two hundred, came up in the fifty-fourth. With just over ten overs to go was three hundred on? However, when Rice (thirty from sixty-three), Thomason (eighty-six from one hundred and thirty-five balls) and Evans were all dismissed within the space of twelve balls the home side were back in the hunt as the score lurched to two hundred and thirty for six. Rice was clearly run out. Thomason according to the scorecard was stumped off Rajaguru (3-63) but I believe he was run-out, attempting a run unaware that the ball was at the keeper’s feet! Thomason is obviously trying to get a full set of unusual run-out dismissals this summer. The home side were particularly pleased to see the back of Evans as the explosive left hander usually enjoys the Swardeston attack!

Ben Clilverd and James Vandepeer then got the Rams back on track as they added forty-two runs in just thirty-one balls. Vandepeer (twenty-three from twenty) was then bowled by Alex Levinson (1-45) as he attempted to smear him across Norfolk and Clilverd (twenty-three from nineteen) fell leg before to Richard Sims(1-37)  with an attempted reverse before George Darlow was also run out as the Rams scrambled for the final few runs. In the end the innings closed on a challenging two hundred and eighty-eight.

In most games you would perhaps rule out a home win given the size of the chase but you’d do that at your peril in this part of Norfolk! Vandepeer (1-23), with his almost customary early breakthrough removed the England over forties player Sims with his fifth ball. This however brought Callum Taylor out to join Jordan Taylor, a pairing that have tormented the Rams attack a few times before. They both in a similar vein to White seemed to be able to adapt their rhythm to the pace of the pitch as they reached another fifty stand off just sixty-six balls. Callum then reached his personal milestone off just fifty-one balls. The pair took the score into three figures at the end of the nineteenth over.  Five balls later the Taylor’s were celebrating their hundred stand. The pair reached tea on ‘Nelsons’ after twenty-two overs, with the visitors looking a bit down beat. The Swardeston pair started brightly after tea  with fifteen runs coming off the first ten balls after the interval. The curse of the break then struck when Callum (seventy-eight from seventy-six) slapped George Darlow’s (1-49) worst ball of the afternoon straight to Mark Smith at mid-off. Two runs later Jordan (forty-seven from sixty-eight) was undone by a beauty from Beaumont. Worse was to follow for the home side as the wheels came off when the dangerous Rajaguru and Benjamin Shearing were both trapped leg before and Harry Barker was bowled all by Beaumont (4-47) as one hundred and twenty-six for one became one hundred and forty-five for six in the space of seven overs. The highly experienced Peter Lambert was joined by youngster Lewis Reader, who had just received news of an Academy place at Northants, and they set about repairing the damage.

Lambert showing plenty of confidence in his partner as he showed no real need to farm the strike. His confidence in his partner was justified as they added fifty runs in seventy-three balls. The pair took the home side to two hundred half way through the forty-fourth over. With seventy-five balls to go was another eighty-nine runs possible? Probably not but a draw and further batting bonus points were definitely in the minds of the home side and their supporters. Alex Evans then provided the Rams with the impetus and perhaps the belief that this could be their afternoon when he took a full length diving catch high to his left, at backward point, to dismiss Lambert. Lambert seemed to have middled a cut that would have taken him to another half-century (forty-nine from fifty-eight balls) when Evans plucked it out of the air off the bowling of White. This inspired, together with a little banter with the home squad, White to be at his ‘grumpiest’ best as he then removed Lawrence Williams and Adam Todd in consecutive balls as the former Derbyshire and Leicestershire quick completed his hat-trick.

Levinson pinched a single to finish White’s incredible over before he played out a Darlow maiden. Reader’s resistance (18 not out from fifty balls) continued as he took a single off White before the Rams’ quick undid Levinson with a short ball to end the innings on two hundred and twelve. White finished with four for thirty-nine as the Rams secured a twenty-nine-point victory, and a rare double over the reigning champions, that lifted them to joint third in the table and perhaps more crucially gave them a twenty-two-point cushion ahead of Swardeston.

Elsewhere the results at the top end of the table went largely as expected with wins for Mildenhall, Copdock and Horsford. Mildenhall needed a last ball wicket to defeat a stubborn Frinton and the thirty points increased their lead at the summit. There were comfortable wins over ‘basement’ sides Witham and Sudbury for Copdock and Horsford respectably. The other sides in the bottom four did themselves big favours as Walden defeated Witchingham and AB Wanderers defeated the fading Bury.

Just like the old saying about London buses, the Rams second string secured their second win in a row after waiting fourteen weeks for the first! Fourth placed St. Giles were the visitors to Spicers but they left pointless after an astonishing day for the Rams. The Rams lost the toss and the visitors chose to bat. The home side were given a tremendous boost as Nick Griggs (1-20) snared James Gillespie and Will Bailey then bowled Kunal Dabas as the usually high scoring openers were both dismissed without a run on the board. Bailey (2-13) then dismissed Vansh Bajaj some four runs and four overs later. Oliver Humphreys continued his decent recent run with the ball as he got into the act when he had Maharaj caught with only twenty-eight on the board. Alex James (24 from 61) and Ted Clifton (9 from 34) had moved the score along to forty-four when disaster struck as the away side lost four wickets for no runs in twenty-six balls. Humphreys picked up the wickets of Clifton, current skipper Sam Thain and former skipper Chris Germon with Jake Raven prizing out James.  Raven then went on to dismiss Parth Kaul (6 from 23) and Matthew Doel (11 from 9) to finish with three for eighteen. These figures were bettered by Humphreys’ ten over haul of four for ten. The visitors incredibly dismissed for just sixty-six in just over thirty-overs.

The Rams have largely performed well with the ball but been let down by their batting this season. Surely, they would convert this position? They lost Julian Jackson early , unable to match his batting heroics of last week, as Germon (1-25) picked up a wicket. However, that was as good as it got as Christy O’Brien (33 from 34) and Miguel Machado (35 from 29) knocked off the runs in just eleven overs.

The betting commission will be calling an emergency meeting as three of the top four in the Onyx Premier league lost on Saturday!

The Third team were unable to complete a Rams hat-trick of league wins when they went down by eighty-three runs in our first ever visit to Birchanger. The Rams won the toss and perhaps fearing a lack of batting decided to bowl. The home side with Elliot Sellears (83) and Aled Jones (91 not out) leading the way as they compiled two hundred and fifty-four for four in their forty overs. This despite tight eight over spells from Dushyant Patel (0-11) and Liam Flynn (1-25). Arya Saeb-Parsy (2-44) and Ellis (1-67) picking up the other wickets.

Openers Flynn (49) and teenager Henry Cotton (54) with his first (of many) senior half centuries for the Club provided the backbone of the reply with another teenager Ethan Hayes-Fernandez (14) the only middle order batsman to make it into double figures. Late runs from Patel (11 no) and late replacement Becca Free (10) got the Rams to one hundred and seventy-one in thirty-five overs.

On Friday night we literally broke new ground for a couple of reasons. Firstly it was our first visit to Barton Turf, home to AB Wanderers and secondly it was our first time in the EAPL T20 Final. The re-arranged final was moved to Norfolk following Frinton’s withdrawal. The match itself was also reduced to eighteen overs a side following worries about the expected light towards the conclusion of the second innings. The Rams with a bit of a mix and match side eventually won by eleven runs. It was pleasing that some of the ‘lesser’ lights got to shine. Ben Clilverd whose season as been severely hampered by his shoulder injury starred with the bat, scoring fifty-nine not out from forty-nine balls. He was ably assisted by second team overseas Christy O’Brien (34 from 23) as they put on seventy-two for the fourth wicket (49 balls). There were also excellent strike rates from opener Jack Beaumont (24 from 11) and Wayne White (13 from 5) as the Rams posted one hundred and fifty-five.

The home side set off at an excellent rate with Romario Roach (24 from 10) then Zak Tribe (22 from 16) giving them hope of a win. The Sawston spinners however turned the game in favour of the visitors. Second teamer Miguel Machado (3-13) picked up three middle order batsmen including the dangerous Tribe and Jack Beaumont (2-27) another two including Roach. However it was perhaps George Darlow (3-22) who at first strangled the scoring rate before coming back to claim three late middle order batters in the fifteenth over. This effectively closed out the game although Michael Mulhall (12 no from 10) and Joshua Larner (14 no from 10) took the total to a respectable one hundred and forty-four for nine. The only bad news for the Rams is that the next round clashes with Cambridgeshire’s NCCA Trophy semi-final next Sunday.