Season: 2021
RCC 1 v Wolvercote 2
By John Thompson
Risinghurst 1st’s followed the 2nd’s in the Semi-final of the Cup with a comfortable victory against Wolvercote at Cutteslowe Park.
On a grey afternoon we had no hesitation in inserting the home side and Lucky struck early to dismiss one opener for a duck and then their second shortly after for an agressive 21. Romio bowled their number 3 before Wolvercote skipper Richard Oliver dug in. He dominated the rest of the innings as the remainder of his team failed to get to grips with Martin and JT. Martin took three wickets in his 8 overs for 27 and JT two for 30 in his with a run out thrown in for good measure to leave Wolvercote 9 down with 130 odd on the board. Skipper Oliver made the most of a life given to his partner when JT failed to spot them taking a second run with the ball in his hands over the stumps before the number 11 was finally run out with the total on 167 in the 40th and final over. The final part of the innings being hampered by Romio taking a blow on the wrist fielding a crashing drive off his own bowling and having to leave the field until the interval.
The Risinghurst reply was dominated in the first part by Martin who followed up his top bowling figures with a quickfire 54 and with Saurabh going early, when he and Romio went with the total in the 80s the game could have slipped away from us. But Sandeep (34*) fresh from 50 on Saturday steadied the ship and added 50 with Lucky before Mansoor smashed us to victory with more than 5 overs to spare. A deserved win against what could have been tricky opposition that takes us one step from a return to the Steve Dixon final that we graced twice in the mid-2010s. Our opponents are yet to be confirmed but we will be away at either Brill or Horspath 4s on July 25th. Thanks to Duncan for an excellent umpiring performance and to Satish for filling in as 11th man at the last minute when he thought he was going to be 12th!
RCC 1 v Horspath 4
By S M Mansoor Abbasi
A beautiful day of cricket to sum up a brilliant team effort alongside a good display of batting and bowling. The game showcased good and consistent runs at one hand and a test match feel of close in field with good pace and swing bowling on the other hand. Risinghurst loss the toss and was put to bat looking at a darker pitch. Risinghurst openers Saurabh and Martin gave a steady start with Martin adding 22 and Saurabh’s contribution of 14 runs. Sandeep George and Lucky then contributed 52 and 39 respectively giving Risinghurst a steadiness in the innings. The partnership was full of elegant drives and pulls from Sandeep and Lucky showing their class and form with some well-placed drives and shots. The next partnership was between Mr Dependable and Reliable Rakesh, who anchored yet another innings with free flowing stroke play on both sides of the wicket, not out at 80. Mansoor contributed 37 runs with a straight 6 as the highlight of his innings. Romeo, a centurion from the last game, was unlucky on a ball that stayed very low. Sam was not out and made sure Risinghurst posted a good challenging total. It was a good display of partnerships and team effort overall. Risinghurst posting this total made the oppositions shoulders go down with bleak chances of acquiring the total. The icing on the cake was a display of pacy swing bowling with the facility of having a net of fielders around the batsmen to give a feel and presence of test match cricket. Govind got his first scalp with a pacy in swinger which dipped and swung in and was too good for the batsman to negotiate. This was just the start for Govind to run through the batting line up who were unable to negotiate his quality of bowling. Govind’s spell of 14.1 overs with 11 maidens and 6 well deserved scalps. JT with another spell of spin bowling managed to get rid of an anchor batsman assisted by a flying catch from Martin. JT totalled 4 scalps making Risinghurst bag their first win in timed matches.
