RCC 2s played solid cricket to beat Churt on their picturesque ground in the Surrey hills.
Invited to bat on a slightly damp and seaming wicket RCC were 26 for 2 and looking like they may be in trouble. It took two excellent knocks from Dharmesh 'the green monster' Vaghela (92) and Big Stu Turner (55) to pull the 2s to a memorable score that had the opposition worried. Both played with calmness and solidity, batting as a pair and building a partnership close to 100 runs. When Stu got out, Dharms continued to milk the Churt bowling and it was a real shame that he didn't quite push on to score a century. It was a fine innings nonetheless. A final flurry of runs from Josh Willmott (8) and Dave Allen (22) pushed RCC to a respectable score of 224 for 6 in 45 overs.
Control was needed from the opening bowlers and both Ash Naumann (2 for 27) and Arran Pratt (1 for 24) bowled excellent lines in their 9 overs apiece. Ash particularly attacked the top of off stump and was unlucky not to take a few more wickets. Zak Khan (1 for 29) and Yasir Ahmad (1 for 24), replaced the openers and bowled respectably but without the same control. Yasir eventually found his stride and was unlucky to see a couple of drops off his bowling. A change to spin finally removed Churt's one class batsman and the tail was tidied up with a throw from Naumann at mid-off that ran out their final batter.
It was a convincing win in the end by 91 runs from a good team effort. Training on Wednesday 6-8pm if we are to continue improving!
Man of the match: D. Vaghela.
Match report: H Gunasekara.