RASEN 2NDS VISIT KELSEY 2NDS

By Andy Richley, Rasen 2nds

Market Rasen’s 2nd XI found themselves dragged back into the re-election mire this weekend as they let a promising situation slip through their fingers to lose by 36 runs. Rasen fielded another young side at the picturesque Lysaght's Ground and with a damp, green track and overcast conditions lost no time in inserting South Kelsey on winning the toss.
As Rampal and Tom Corden opened up for Rasen with Rampal immediately settling into an impeccable line and length for the majority of his spell. Corden found the going tougher, with Kelsey’s Matt Burgess getting away with a few liberties to the youngster. With the ball not coming onto the bat but the pitch, otherwise, proving sound the Kelsey openers had moved to 33 without loss before the skipper, Andy Richley, brought himself on. Burgess was immediately bowled, beaten by the flight of a delivery he was looking to send up onto the Wolds. Rasen continued to keep things tight and Richley picked up two more wickets in his spell to reduce Kelsey to 57 for 3.
This brought together Rob Baty with Kelsey’s skipper and the pair looked to turn things around for the home side, whilst never managing to break their shackles entirely. The re-introduction of Rampal and Corden led to Baty falling for 18 and started a collapse that would see Kelsey lose six wickets for 29 runs. Both the youngsters bowled well in their second spells with Corden doing particuarly well to come back from his earlier struggles. Rampal finished with 3 for 12 from his 10 overs and whilst his wickets relied on a modicum of luck and some superb catching from the side’s veterans, they were just reward for the quality of both his spells. Corden took 2 for 19 from his second spell, including the key wicket of Tony Potter, Kelsey’s captain, who had accumulated a stoic 31 from 27 overs to hold his side together.
With Kelsey reduced to 119 for 9 in the 40th over, Rasen were made to pay for missed chances as Thompson (22 not out) and Gopal added another 30 runs with some timely blows to lift the hosts to 149 for 9 from their 45 overs. With a fine overall effort in the field, particularly from George and James Fussey, accompanied by some keen support bowling from Chris Janney (1 for 45), Aaron Wells and Graham Charman, South Kelsey eventually ended up 20 runs ‘heavier’ than they should have been.
Rasen started their chase in style, with Ivan Nash getting off the mark with an effortless six over deep square leg. Unfortunately he perished soon after and was joined in the pavilion by Shaun French, who was run out by Richley in a moment of madness from the Rasen skipper. Reduced to 17 for 2, Richley and George Fussey looked to rebuild the innings and set about doing so in determined style. Richley mixed outrageous fortune with some fine strokes; one full-blooded square cut being of particular note, and the pair steadily accumulated against some tight bowling. Whilst the pitch continued to play reasonably true, batting became no easier as it wore and runs were at a premium.
Once the opening bowlers had been seen off, runs started to flow more freely, with Fussey taking a particular penchant to the spin of Potter and Rasen were 70 for 2 at drinks. Unfortunately the break worked to Kelsey’s advantage, rather than Rasen’s, as Richley was bowled by Potter for 40 to end his 52 run partnership with Fussey. Fussey then upped the tempo and put on 20 runs with Tom Corden in quick time. However, once he fell to McFarland for 35 Rasen collapsed from 93 for 3 to 113 all out, with no other batsmen reaching double figures. Potter completed a fine all-round game to collect 4 for 43 for Kelsey and he found nagging support from the rest of his attack.
The defeat dumps Rasen back into the re-election places, with results elsewhere not going as well as they could have and means that next week’s game at home to Alford is as crucial as projected.