Venturers Vs Ram, Wednesday July 19th

The Ram 48, Venturers 49-1

The outcome of the historical first meeting of two of Bath and North East Somerset’s titans of recreational cricket was a result which didn’t match the billing.

Grim and grey weather conditions lingered throughout the day and luckily the dark clouds held off from raining until the match was safely over.

Whether or not the overcast conditions had any direct effect on the movement of the new ball is difficult to tell but as Venturers began the match in the field the ball was certainly swinging.

Jamie opened the bowling as if he’d never been away and his pace seemingly struck fear into the Ram’s opening batsmen who played cautiously defensive shots at best. The pressure, built by the lack of runs on the scoreboard, soon paid off and Jamie took two wickets within three overs, including dismissing what looked like one of the opposition’s more competent batsmen by hitting the top of off stump.

Jamie was supported from the other end by Jack who enjoyed some movement from the new ball himself. After a couple of limited-scoring overs he struck with an LBW, leaving the Ram three wickets down with no more than six overs bowled.

Replacing the opening bowlers were Imran, who now seems disappointed every time he fails to take four or more wickets, and Gregory, who the batsmen were always likely to go after following their slow start.

The run-scoring remained extremely limited but it wasn’t until Sunny and, first, Ejaz got hold of the ball before further wickets fell. After Ejaz’s warm-up over he bowled with genuine pace and it was too much for the Ram’s middle-order batsmen to handle. Sunny bowled equally well, even throwing in his first ever doosra which not only baffled the batsmen but Ian Gillard behind the stumps and Jack at first slip too.

The Ram’s total of 48 was never going to trouble Venturers given their strong batting line-up and a solid foundation was laid by Rob, who targeted the backward-square boundary to great effect, and Matt, who played safely and competently throughout, before Rob was dismissed for a… questionable LBW decision.

Sunny joined Matt in the middle and, though not as his best, helped edge Venturers over the line with a couple of boundaries struck with his treasured bat.