RUGBY CC endured a frustrating day as the weather curtailed their match against a Bablake side who are rooted to the bottom of the Warwickshire County League Premier Division table without a win this season.
Persistent rain delayed the start of the match, but it looked like the players’ patience would be rewarded when the sides took to the field for a 20-over match just before 5pm.
Wes Landsdale won the toss and asked Bablake to bat first, which looked a good decision when they scored just two runs from the first two overs.
An early Neal McGrath wicket put Rugby in control but some clean striking by Amaan Khan (34) and Matt McCarthy (33) gave Bablake momentum.
McGrath (3-19) was the pick of Rugby’s attack whilst Lee Golding (3-41) took important wickets and Kasir Shah (1-39) also chipped in.
Tom Yardley (28) struck some late boundaries but Bablake’s 136-7 looked below par only for further rain towards the end of their innings to further delay proceedings and rendered a result virtually impossible.
Rugby had just nine overs to bat and attempted to play positively as Landsdale (35 not out) and Owen Edwards (29 not out) reached 67-0 before the match was abandoned.
Elsewhere, Rugby’s second XI are back on track after a winning draw against struggling Aston Unity in a rain affected match in Division Five.
Skipper Bhavik Rathod lost the toss and was asked to bat first with the game reduced to 46 overs a side due to some early rain.
Charlie Robards opened with Alex Watson and looked comfortable until Robards was caught behind for 11.
Watson was joined at the crease by Rathod and the pair made light work of taking Rugby to 63 before Watson was also caught for 31.
This brought James Nuttall to the crease who, after a steady start, quickly took the game to Aston’s bowlers to hit an impressive 90, which included 16 boundaries, before being caught.
And his dismissal allowed Rathod (82 not out) to press on and push Rugby’s total to 246-3 with Rob Stipanovic contributing 18 not out.
However, further rain delays saw Aston Unity’s innings reduced to 32 overs with a revised target score of 170.
Despite openers Adam Mist (32) and Sean Miller (57) helping Aston to 113-2, Rugby’s introduction of debutant Ash Cutts (1-23) proved crucial as he broke up Unity’s first-wicket partnership.
And once Miller was dismissed by Rathod (2-29), Rugby took two quick wickets to regain control with Amaan Hassan Shah (2-30) doing the damage with the ball.
Unity finished on 147-6 to ensure Rugby came away with a winning draw despite the best efforts of the weather.
Lastly, Rugby’s 3rd XI cruised to a 10-wicket victory against Knowle Village that propelled them to the top of the Division Eight South Central table.
Liam Slaughter won the toss and chose to bowl first before taking two early wickets to leave the home side in trouble.
Only Ali Qazi (33) reached double figures for the hosts, as wickets fell at regular intervals thanks to fine bowling from Slaughter (2-17) and Tom Rigby (2-22) with Rubans Sugartharubans, Chris Oliver and Euan Walker all taking a wicket each.
Rugby bowled their nine-man opponents out for a measly 68 and made light work of the run chase as Shreyas Honnalli (37 not out) and Alex Smith (32 not out) sealed victory in the ninth over.
