Farley Hill (A) – 14.6.15

RUASCC 187-6 (40 overs)

Murphy 50, Greenhalf 35 not out, Ward 34

Farley Hill 189-4 (35.2 overs)

Withers 3-35, Ashman 1-40

RUASCC lost by 6 wickets

Two games at Farley Hill this year, two defeats – and not even very close ones to be honest.  The home side made this run chase look pretty easy in the end, helped enormously by captain Jalil’s assured 80 and also by the fact we only brought four bowlers to a limited-overs game.

Eagle won the toss, chose to bat first and came up against accurate bowling on a pitch with variable bounce.  There was also plenty of swing in the air and Eagle was the first victim of it – bowled off an inside edge for two.  Ward meanwhile had set off with typical intent and he hit three fours and a six in a rapid 34.  Several partnerships got started: 32, 27, 55, 29, mostly anchored by Murphy’s patient half-century, but the highlight was the 40 stand between Greenhalf and Weeks who combined to inject some pace towards the end of the innings and took us to the respectable, if not daunting, total of 187.

Withers and Ashman opened the bowling and kept the run rate down at about four an over in the early stages.  Withers removed both openers and was withdrawn from the attack with the home side on 40-2, but the third wicket added 87 before Ashman produced a gem of an accidental off-spinner to clean bowl Holland.  Sadly there was no miracle turnaround - the fourth wicket added a further 50 as Farley cantered home with nearly five overs to spare, with the only other RUASCC success coming when Withers finally bowled Jalil with his penultimate delivery.

RUASCC Highlight:  Weeks’ first scoring stroke, a kind of flat-batted straight drive for four.  Nobody was expecting it, but it set the tone for what was probably his most positive RUASCC knock.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Murphy.  Conditions were tough, but he made it look tough.

RUASCC Team:  Ward, Eagle (capt), Murphy, Mazhar, Dip (wkt), Greenhalf, Weeks, Main, Green, Ashman, Withers

Theale & Tilehurst (A) – 24.5.15

Theale & Tilehurst 228-5 (44 overs)

Saad 2-57, Withers 1-26, Law 1-29

RUASCC 150-6 (41 overs)

Ward 51, Eagle 23, Greenhalf 19 not out

Scorecard

Match drawn

A batsmen’s track we expect in Theale

On a warm weekend in the month of May

Then we lose the toss and start to feel

It’s going to be a bloody long day

The new ball, Withers - it’s risky no doubt

Hit to the boundary as likely as not

First ball of the match: caught Eagle, he’s out!

(But that was the only one Withers got)

Forty-four overs, a long time to bowl

It might have been fewer if we could catch

Ward, Dersh then Withers – it saddens the soul

Our dignity shelled, and maybe the match

  Set two twenty-eight, a typical score

  A possible win?  More likely a draw

Eagle and Ward started on the right track

Seventy-seven their opening stand

Fifty for Wardy, a brutal attack

An Eagle-hit six is still yet to land

An excellent start, unlikely to last

In a procession our wickets we tossed

When RUASCC turn bad we unravel fast:

Twenty runs later and five wickets lost

Five wickets down, not a hundred yet scored

Can we survive till the end of the game?

Just playing for pride and runs on the board

Working out which of our batsmen to blame

  Andy and Ifti both proved to be sound

  The last ball walloped clean out of the ground

RUASCC Highlight:  Eagle’s maximum – you don’t often see him hit six over a proper boundary.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Ward, despite the two dropped catches!

RUASCC Team:  Ward, Eagle (capt), Dersh Patel, Saad, Zia, Dip Patel (wkt), Greenhalf, Ifti Ahmed, Law, Waqar, Withers