Cricket
Brilliant Ewer leads Rugby to victory

RUGBY CC captain Matt Ewer bowled a magnificent spell to guide his side to an eight-wicket Warwickshire League Division One victory at Ansley Sports on Saturday.

The skipper immediately vindicated his decision to field first when he bowled Clint Bowers first ball and he went on to take four of the first five wickets to reduce Ansley to 11-5.

Owen Edwards (12-7-13-1) was proving miserly at the other end whilst Riv Monsell (5-2-24-2) and Mo Sadiq (5-0-20-1) chipped in to help demolish the home side’s batting.

After 30 overs of slight progress, Ewer returned to finish the innings, ending with glorious figures of 9.5-3-14-6 and maintain his position as the leading Division One wicket taker.

Rugby also face a few alarms against the new ball with Stu Lloyd (0) and Alex Smith (8) both falling lbw.

The result was never in doubt though as Raj Chohan (18no) blunted Ansley’s attack, allowing Edwards to complete a fine all-round display by smashing 43 off 33 balls (four fours and three sixes).

The resounding victory keeps Rugby 33 points clear at the top of the table ahead of Saturday’s trip to local rivals Barby.

THE 2nds picked up a winning draw against Ansley 2nds to move up to second place in the Warwickshire League Division Two 2nd XI table.

Rugby may have feared the worse when asked to bat on a wicket with a huge damp patch from the tennis court end, but veteran openers Alan Milsom and Ash Koria played sensibly and stylishly in compiling 38.

Milsom was first to fall when caught on the drive for 21 before Tom Binding played on for 3.

Koria found a willing partner in Henry Parker who played some gorgeous legside shots as he rushed to a rapid 46 whilst Koria fell for a solid 49 trying to accelerate the rate but Rugby were well placed at 147-3.

Calamity then followed as Ed Pell (1), Tom Mitchell (0), Rubans Sugatharubans (0) and Jack Coleman (2) came and went as Rugby lost five wickets for eight runs.

With 16 overs to bat, Neal McGrath (18), Matt Hinks (20no) and Kannan (5) batted stoically to add another 45 and earn maximum batting points.

The par score of 200 did not seem enough as Ansley opener Robin Haddon threw the bat at everything, racing to 31 before Neal McGrath (12-5-31-1) yorked him.

Ansley were scoring at seven an over for the first six overs, but Sugatharubans (13-5-19-1) and Hinks (10-2-24-0) kept things tight as the visitors plodded to 79-3.

Koria brought a wicket and Milsom shrugged off a long standing bowling injury to take 4 in quick succession with pace and movement for great figures of 9-2-20-4.

The wicket was still playing well, however, and some rearguard dead batting from Bainbridge (17no) and young Baxter (9no) saw the game end in a winning draw for Rugby.

THE 3rds lost their top of the table clash against Spartans by 94 runs as they were dismissed for 100 chasing 194-8.

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