RCC 1s lose to Thames Ditton by 104 runs

After three consecutive wins and flying high, we were brought back to earth with a massive thud.

We were lucky to even get a game and Thames Ditton’s ground was in pretty decent condition despite the weather and all the rain.  The track was understandably soft, so when Fuchsy won the toss, he had no hesitation in sticking them in.  Progress was slow and although we weren’t taking wickets, Thames Ditton were not scoring particularly freely and for the first 20 overs things were ticking along.  We then managed to get amongst the wickets and had them 3 down for 70 and we are in the driving seat.  At the 40 over mark, with wickets in hand, Thames Ditton changed gear and their 2 in batsmen were very harsh on all the bowlers (except for Sean Farrell who bowled a brilliant spell and was unlucky only to pick up 2 wickets).  Runs were flowing like water down the high street in Derbyshire, and in no time at all Thames Ditton had passed the 200 run mark in the blink of an eye.  Four dropped catches and some poor bowling and fielding didn’t help matters, but Thames Ditton paced their innings perfectly and declared on 218, giving us 48 overs to chase down the runs.  With our recent batting form, this was well within range.

Sean Farrell and Scott Costello started brightly and we were ticking along at the required rate of 5 per over.  Thames Ditton’s opening bowler bowled 8 overs of all illegitimate deliveries by no-balling by about 6 inches on every delivery, but their umpire not calling it once.  Anyway, he soon claimed a wicket with a no ball and wickets started falling at regular intervals.  The run rate required increased to 7, but as long as Phil Dorsett was at the crease, we had a chance.  After Phil fell, we knew the best we could hope for was a draw and we held on for 44 overs, but their bowling was too good and our batting not up to scratch.

A very disappointing result particularly after the last few weeks, but we know that we are a much better side than this result suggests and this week, against Haslemere and a full bowling attack, we hope to do much better.

Man of the match:  Sean Farrell
(report by Paul Fuchs)