RUGBY CC suffered a narrow defeat to title-chasing Sutton Coldfield despite a century from Owen Edwards in a high-scoring Warwickshire County League Premier Division encounter.
Sutton made the most of ideal batting conditions to score 293-4 from their 50 overs, having overcome a disastrous start that saw them slip to 16-2.
Kasir Shah (2-41) and Seth Westley (1-72) both claimed wickets in the first two overs of the innings before Sutton put on a staggering 185-run partnership for their third wicket.
Lee Thomason (132 not out) was the start of the show and was supported by Jack Smith (93) as the pair batted out most of Sutton’s overs before the latter fell to Daanyal Sadiq (1-52).
And Rugby were made to rue several dropped catches in the final 10 overs as Sutton produced some aggressive batting which saw Aaron Thomason score a quickfire 36 from just 24 deliveries.
Rugby made a slow start in reply as openers Alex Watson (10) and Henry Parker (1) both fell cheaply to the impressive Felix Haines (4-45).
And Rugby were in trouble when Wes Landsdale (16) also fell victim to Haines to leave them on 44-3.
However, Edwards’s arrival at the crease helped accelerate their innings as he went on to score a majestic 115 from just 90 balls, hitting 16 boundaries along the way.
He was initially well-supported by Kyle Taylor (36) and Michael Hughes (29), after the wicket of Shah (13) left them on 121-5.
Rugby added 86 runs in 10 overs before Hughes and Edwards were both dismissed with the visitors needing 49 runs from 51 balls on 245-7.
However, Sutton claimed two quick wickets – Levi Gekis (16) and Sadiq (2) – before taking the crucial wicket of Lee Golding (19) to bowl Rugby out for 277 and secure a 16-run victory.
In Division Five, Rugby’s 2nd XI lost by four wickets against Ambleside after producing a lacklustre batting performance.
The Webb Ellis Road side lost captain Lee James (2) early on before Charlie Robards (35) and Joe Bramley (13) added 51 for the second wicket.
However, Rugby lost three quick wickets for the addition of just eight runs to leave them in trouble on 66-4.
Rob Stipanovic (46) anchored the rest of the innings and shared a 66-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Akshay Vaghela (37).
However, once their resistance was broken, only Suj Barhey (21) reached double figures as Rugby limped to 195-9 from their 50 overs.
Sujahn Barhey (1-38) picked up an early wicket in Ambleside’s reply before Darun Kaliray (25) and Graham Woods (21) steadied the ship.
Ash Cutts (2-36) was the pick of Rugby’s attack and kept his side in the game with his wickets of Kaliray and Woods which left Ambleside on 71-3.
However, Ambleside were on course for victory thanks to a 65-run stand between Adnan Malik (40) and Edward Stockton (45) despite both departing to Vaghela (2-30).
A late wicket from Amaan Shah (1-32) proved in vain as Ambleside reached the required total in the 46th over.
In Division Eight South Central, Rugby secured a dominant winning draw against local rivals Newbold to keep their promotion push on track.
Liam Slaughter won the toss and elected to bat first as openers Alex Smith (69) and Rubans (58) put on 124 runs for the first wicket.
And despite losing three quick wickets, Kurran Barhey’s fireworks, which saw him score 72 runs from just 47 balls including six maximums, helped power his side to 257-4 who declared after 42 overs with Tom Binding (22 not out) and Liam Hebblewhite (14 not out) adding useful runs.
Newbold began steadily in reply through Tom Dell (23) before Adam Milsom (2-32) struck twice in as many balls in the 10th over.
And Newbold set about batting out their overs as they prepared to settle for a losing draw with Ben Thompson (58 not out) proving a thorn in Rugby’s side.
Murali Natarajan (2-43) and Tom Rigby (2-25) both took two wickets apiece with Slaughter (1-10) and Barhey (1-37) also amongst the wickets as Newbold finished their 48 overs on 194-8.
