TOWNHILL'S 'NINE-FOR' ROLLS RASEN 2nds

By Andrew Richley, Market Rasen 2nds

Looking to breathe life into their 2010 Lincs League Division 4 campaign after their inauspicious hammering at Morton, a ‘Young Rasen 2nd XI’ (TM) travelled to Hykeham in both hope and, some, expectation.
Winning the toss on a balmy day at Memorial Field, Rasen decided to bat first on a track that, whilst it had plenty of grass on it, felt solid enough and was accompanied by a fast outfield. Simon Clark and Ivan Nash opened up for Rasen and made the decision look a sound one. Hykeham had struggled to get a side out for the match – eventually ending up with 10 men in the field – and the opening pair were happy to wait for the bad ball that they could hit into the numerous gaps. The pair eschewed the risky in favour of stolid defence and the occasional smite as Josh Taylor and Andy Fletcher made the openers work for their runs. A groin strain for Taylor brought Liam Townhill into the attack and whilst the debutant looked unassuming enough, his assortment of swing, seamers and cutters was, eventually, to take the game away from Rasen.
Clark and Nash settled into the game as they looked to meet their first objective – taking Rasen past the 41 they had totalled the week before. This was safely accomplished as Clark hung on doggedly, struggling to time the ball, but not often looking uncomfortable, to keep the belligerent Nash company. Dealing mainly in boundaries, Nash punished anything loose from the Hykeham attack, peppering the square leg boundary in particular, but also unfurling a couple of lovely cover drives.
Having taken Rasen to 81 in the 23rd over, Clark (21) undid his patient work with a heave to leg, off Townhill, that was well taken by Taylor on the stroke of drinks. The same combination bagged the next wicket with an eerily familiar shot to leave Rasen 89 for 2 and 15 year-old George Fussey striding to the crease. A sparkling cameo from the youngster (19 with 4 fours) saw Rasen threaten to break the shackles, with Hykeham’s first team captain – playing with the 2nds because of work commitments – taken for 12 in the first over he bowled to Fussey. Nash continued to cash in, compiling his first senior half-century for the club as he took advantage of Hykeham’s weakened attack and turned one of his ubiquitous good starts into an innings of real substance, until being the fifth man out for 76 (12 fours and 1 six).
Unfortunately, the good work of the top order was undone as a succession of rash shots to the excellent Townhill – and a surprisingly ambitious call for a quick single from Rasen’s skipper – saw the young line-up collapse from 130 for 2 to 151 all out in the 36th over, with Liam Townhill claiming the extraordinary figures of 9 for 54 from 15 overs. Whilst the batting effort from the Rase Park outfit had been an immense improvement on the week before, the failure to bat out their overs was to cost them dear.
Hykeham’s reply got off to a rapid start with Jack Ward (22) performing a fine IPL audition as he led his team to 40 from the first five overs, before being the second man to perish, bowled by Aaron Wells. Rasen’s spinners did their best to pull the run-rate back with Fussey (1 for 25 from 7 overs) finding plenty of turn and the skipper, Andy Richley, back in parsimonious form, sending down ten overs for only 18 runs. However, catches – both easy (we’re looking at you Skip) and hard – were dropped and, as a result, Hykeham’s fourth wicket pair were able to settle in and take the game away from Rasen. Josh Taylor (70*, 13 fours) was the mainstay of Hykeham’s batting effort. His driving on the front foot was particularly strong, with some crunching cover drives and, in particular, an on-drive when he’d only just arrived at the crease being both brutal and classical at the same time.
Lee Buick (31*) kept Taylor company and, whilst he never looked entirely comfortable, the longer he ground out his time at the crease the less likely it appeared that he would perish. Rasen rung the changes in an attempt to ‘buy’ a wicket and continued to work hard in the field but were unable to stop Hykeham from chasing down the total in the 39th over for the loss of 3 wickets.
A much improved performance from Rasen 2nds ended, frustratingly, with them garnering only one more point than they had in last week’s trouncing. However, with seven U-19s in the team, much heart can be taken from the overall improvement.