Last over thrillers!

The Rams faced two very difficult games in a curtailed program on Saturday, as the new EAPL leaders SBCC entertained third placed Mildenhall and the second team travelled to Eaton Socon in the Onyx Premier One.

The Rams won the toss at Spicers and decided to bat. The Sawston openers Wayne White and Callum Guest, fresh from their triple hundred partnership last week, added the almost compulsory fifty stand. The milestone was reached off just fifty-eight balls. White (23 from 35 balls) who was aiming for his third consecutive EAPL hundred was undone when the Mildenhall skipper Tristan Blackledge trapped him in front. The Rams then lost Yousuf Choudhary (19 from 13) some twenty-two runs later to leave the Rams on seventy-six for two in the fifteenth. The Sawston youngster providing Jacob Kippax- Maton, one of a couple of bowling line up changes for the Suffolk outfit following the unavailability of star performers KC Cariappa and Jack Loveday.  Guest and Ben Claydon, on his return from long term injury, appeared to be setting the innings up perfectly as the Rams added another fifty stand, from eighty-four balls. Guest had just moved to another personal fifty (in just 65 balls) and the SBCC pair looked like they had survived the curse of drinks when the Rams lost both batsman with the score on one hundred and twenty-eight in and around the thirtieth over. Claydon attempting to hit a full toss from Darren Ironside (1-33) to the longest boundary could only find the grateful hands of Tim Catley. With Kippax-Maton (2-34 from ten tight wicket to wicket overs) still extracting some movement and variable bounce he claimed the prize wicket of Guest (64 from 88) when Jack Potticary caught the EAPL’s leading run scorer. Ben Clilverd joined Jack Beaumont and the pair attempted to consolidate as they added twenty-three runs (from 35 balls), to take the side past the one-fifty mark. 

The Suffolk side again then struck taking two wickets in quick succession, and with respect to the bowler, Matt Allen, probably from an unexpected source. Bowling at a similar or slightly slower pace to Kippax-Maton and from the same end he was also getting a bit of ‘nibble’ and he yorked Clilverd before picking up Alex Evans two balls later. Evans who had answered the ‘mayday’ call following Lee Thomason’s injury withdrawal and had flown in from a business trip in the US just that morning.

It was a difficult pitch to assess a ‘good’ score on as it was offering assistance to the bowlers, and the batters were never fully ‘in’ but the lightning outfield offered full value for any shots the pierced the defensive ring. When James Vandepeer went fifteen runs later with the score at one hundred and sixty-nine for seven, a third victim for Allen (3-27), the Rams were still short of a challenging total with just fifty-five balls left. The home crowd’s optimism lurched further when Beaumont was run out, some would say by Rams skipper Dan Heath as the home side lost their eighth wicket for one hundred and eighty-seven. Heath and Darlow then added a vital thirty-six runs (off 37 balls). Darlow (23 from 19) was then dismissed by the returning Blackledge (2-38) before Heath (18 no from 24 balls) and Smith (3 no from 4) added another eleven runs as the innings closed on two hundred and thirty-four for nine. Smith taking his average to forty-nine in 2024, with his only dismissal coming in a pre-season friendly!

The Sawston seamers, in a rare event, failed to deliver the usual power-play wickets but Beaumont picked up the wicket of the dangerous Potticary in the seventh over with the score on twenty-one. However, Ironside, the Suffolk side’s top performer with the bat in 2024, then joined Allen. They added a fifty partnership off eighty balls, and had moved the visitors onto ninety-six for one at drinks. Although the required rate had increased to just over five and a half Mildenhall were looking comfortable. I for one, at this point, was hoping for a few wickets for damage limitations. The Ram’s fielding was a bit a of curate’s egg with some good ground fielding, particularly inside the thirty-yard circle mixed with some indifferent stuff further out. The Mildenhall pair had almost taken their stand to three figures (96 from 135 balls) when Allen (51 from 74) slapped Darlow (1-40 from ten overs) straight into the hands of Beaumont. Beaumont then trapped his Suffolk colleague Ironside (57 from 90) with a delivery that kept a little low, just fourteen runs later to reduce the visitors to one hundred and thirty-one for three.

Mildenhall required another one hundred and four as the rate climbed above six an over for the first time. Joe Tetley and Blackledge who always seem to bat well and bat well together when up against the Rams consolidated adding thirty-one (from 35 balls). Tetley then trying to use the pace from Beaumont (3-35) could only find the hands of Claydon as the Suffolk captain picked up his third. The Mildenhall skipper was joined by Dom Palmer and the pair appeared to be taking the game away from the Rams as they moved the score past two hundred in the forty-fifth, but the required rate had moved imperceptibly to sevens. Palmer (26 from 29) having batted beautifully then had a bit of a hack and was bowled by Guest (1-50) with the score on two hundred and nine for five. Even when White had Ben Palmer caught in the deep by the bucket hands of Darlow, just three runs later, Mildenhall were still favourites, although the gap on the ‘win-predictor’ had narrowed. With White only conceding two runs in the over the required rate climbed to eights with eighteen balls to go.  

The experienced Catley then joined his skipper and they moved the score along to two hundred and twenty-four (adding twelve at a run a ball). A decent over from Guest meant that sixteen was required from the final two overs. Catley with almost a ‘free hit’ off White’s last ball, with Blackledge on strike at the start of the final over, went for broke and was about a yard short (to the shorter side) when he holed out to the safe hands of Darlow. White (2-37) with a wicket and the concession of just five runs had given Vandepeer nine runs to defend to win the game, and ten to tie. Blackledge (44 from 42 balls) was then caught by Ben Claydon off the first ball as he attempted to smash it over mid-off ending the skipper’s excellent knock. A dot was followed by a four and a two to Jonah Handy, but the fifth ball crucially only yielded one leg bye.

New batter Tom Heywood had one ball with four required for the win. He made excellent contact but was hitting to the longest part of the ground and the chance was gratefully accepted by Evans just yards from the boundary. The Rams had somehow won by three runs, to make it five on the trot, in their third last ball thriller of the season at Spicers. Vandepeer finishing with 2-32 to complete the victory in yet another massive contest between these two big rivals where excellent games of cricket are usually won by the smallest of margins.

The win kept the Rams top. However, second placed Horsford comfortably beat Bury to stay just one point behind SBCC. Copdock moved back into third with a huge win at Frinton to remain just thirteen points behind the leaders. The loss for Mildenhall puts then twenty-two adrift which gives the Rams almost a one match cushion. AB Wanderers won the basement six pointer against Walden and they find themselves in mid-table security and almost mathematically guaranteed another season in the EAPL, which for all the newly promoted sides is a massive goal and achievement. Witham despite posting an impressive total were defeated by a Joe Gatting ton that all but should keep Witchingham clear of the relegation dog-fight. Sudbury with a thirty-six-point cushion from bottom side Frinton still have work to do after a big loss at home to Swardeston.

The twos arrived at Eaton Socon and were given an early boost with the news that Johnny Carpenter, who had scored a ton against them in the reverse fixture, had been ‘dropped’ into the Eaton Socon seconds. Their luck didn’t continue as the home side won the toss and decided to bat. The Rams opened up with Ethan Rice who on his return to his old stomping ground was having a first bowl for weeks, in an injury ravaged season. The lack of Carpenter appeared not to be that important as Matt Pateman (48 from 45) and Tom Banks (63 from 85) opened up. Joe Dawborn (71 from 51) and Ollie Jeffries (20) were the only other two to make it past the teens as the home side rattled up an impressive two hundred and sixty-nine. Crucially for the visitors they had picked up eight bowling points as they continually picked up wickets. Nick Griggs with three (3-46) and braces for Jake Raven (2-35) and Julius Jackson (2-46) were the most successful bowlers. Skipper Ant Phillips picked up one (1-49) and there was a run out.

The game plan at the start of the innings was to get as many batting bonus points as possible. Jackson (19 from 26) and overseas Christy O’Brien (35 from 57) gave the visitors a solid start. However, when  the explosive Machado followed quickly after Jackson’s dismissal it left the Rams on thirty-four for two. Scott Stevenson (2-25) picked up both wickets. Rice then joined our kiwi and they added sixty-eight (from 84 balls) and had just taken the total into three figures when O’Brien was dismissed by JJ Hewitt (1-28). Oli Borley with a positive knock (31 from 35) and Rice then added forty-eight to take the total to one-fifty in the thirty-first. Rice moving to a half century off just fifty-nine balls.  Connor Woodward then trapped Borley in front. Will Bailey joined Rice to add sixty-six in seventy-six balls before Woodward picked up Bailey (20 from 32) for his second wicket at the end of the forty-third. The Rams were on two hundred and sixteen for five, needing another thirty-four off forty-two balls for full batting points. They would need an unlikely fifty-four off forty-two to win . The winning post looked more distant as at first Griggs went six runs later and then Rice a further dozen runs later as Woodward (4-52) picked them both up as the innings lurched to two hundred and thirty-four for six mid-ways through the forty-seventh over. Rice whose confidence with the bat seems to have blossomed following his decent knock at Swardeston had made his maiden century (108 balls) before he was out seven runs later. Despite Rice’s heroics the Rams still needed thirty-six from twenty-one balls but just sixteen for full batting points. Third team in-form batter Joe Latham then joined his skipper and they added fifteen of those runs before Banks (1-31) removed Latham. With thirteen balls left the Rams needed twenty-one but effectively had a ‘free hit’.  Skipper Phillips, with support from Raven, went into overdrive and a six off the final ball of the forty-ninth complimenting an earlier boundary meant that the Rams needed nine off the last over to win. Raven played his part by immediately getting off strike. With Phillips lashing out for a boundary the bowler, Banks, held his nerve as the next three balls went dot-two-dot. Crucially with the skipper on strike Phillips cleared his front leg and smashed the fifth ball off the back foot straight back over the bowler’s head for six to win the game. None of that last ball nonsense for the seconds! Predictably the team returned back to Spicers to celebrate their fourth win in five by getting the Drugby table out! I swear I could hear the faint tones of the theme to the Great Escape in the distance!