A game is a game of two halves. Unfortunately on a cold, blustery day in Surbiton the 2s didn’t turn up for the second half of their first league match of the season. We were up against London Gymkhana, a team who had earned promotion in 2018 but who were an unknown quantity for RCC.

The bowling and fielding from RCC was very promising for the first competitive match of the season - Yasir Ahmed led the way with 4 wickets, Fahad Hassan mopped up the tail with 3 wickets, and Phil Dorsett, on debut for the 2s, picked up two wickets, one of which was a crucial caught and bowled as the rain came down. As we walked off for a rain break, it felt like the match had turned in our favour. London Gymkhana were eventually all out for 115. Stephen Broad and Rich Else deserve a mention for some excellent ground fielding as they patrolled the leg side throughout the innings. Babar earned one wicket, with both he and Zak Khan being unlucky not to gain more.

Chasing 116 to win felt do-able, even with a long outfield and some tight early bowling from London Gymkhana. Some poor shot selection, and a couple of deliveries that shot along the ground, undid RCC batsmen at regular intervals. Having made it to 21-0 after 10 accurate overs, it seemed like we might be ok. However, 54 all out tells its own story, with only a handful of batsmen making it into double figures.

London Gymkhana took 20 points for winning by 61 runs, with RCC picking up 4 bowling points.

Match details

Match date

Kickoff

Competition

League position