RASEN STROLL TO FIRST LEAGUE DOUBLE

A balmy weekend saw the bowlers on top at Rase Park, for a change, as Market Rasen 2nds’ pace attack took advantage of a helpful pitch and humid conditions to run through a Keelby 2nds line-up shorn of its key cog - opener Andy Sharp.
With the sun beating down and the teams set to use the same track that Rasen had amassed 246-8 on the week before, Jeremy Slater won the toss for Keelby and lost no time in choosing to bat. In retrospect, it was a decision that shaped the course of the game, but at the time, was one that either skipper would have made.
Bruce Roberts replaced Sharp at the top of the order with Tony Renney, with Roberts looking to re-discover the form that had brought him 90 against Caistor earlier in the season. Rasen’s opening bowlers started in contrasting fashion; Dan Norburn steamed in from the River Rase end and made life hard for the batsmen from the off. From the Pavilion end Aaron Wells welcomed Roberts with a pair of full tosses outside off stump that were duly crunched through the covers for a pair of boundaries as the Keelby stalwart’s railway-sleeper of a bat battered the ball. Whilst Wells wasn’t ‘tapped’, he didn’t fire as he had in the last few games and only lasted five overs before being replaced by Darren Salmon.
Whilst Wells was struggling for rhythm at the other end, Norburn was finding the variable bounce and seam movement on offer to his liking, forcing Renney to prod the ball to short cover and then bowling Dan Bevis. Salmon struck almost immediately, Dan Mawer edging behind after a promising, if fast, start and Rasen were truly up and running when Roberts, who to this point had observed from the non-striker’s end with something approaching disdain, top edged an attempted smash off Norburn to provide Rory Jackson with a steepling catch at mid-on, which the youngster snaffled safely. The opener’s 24 was to be the only score in double-figures until M. Wade’s merry 11 at the end and had shown the value on offer for the batsmen but, unfortunately for Keelby, the rest of the line-up were unable to gain a foothold long enough to emulate him.
Once Roberts fell Salmon and Norburn worked through the rest of the lineup, backed up by a keen fielding performance that, for the first time this season, saw not a single chance grassed and some fine catching, in particular Richard Limmer’s diving effort at cover to dismiss Paul Parker with Keelby were dismissed for 89 in the 24th over. Norburn finished with 5 for 29 and Salmon with 5 for 18.
As is so often the case in the second innings, whilst the demons in the pitch were still present, they were nowhere near as pronounced. Salmon and Ivan Nash set about knocking off the runs with, seemingly, little difficulty until the former retired hurt with a pulled groin. This gave Keelby a way in as Andy Richley struggled to get going, before being bowled, George Fussey shared the same fate, followed by Ivan Nash, who had looked untroubled to that point in his 28.
It was left to Richard Limmer (17*) and Rob Chamberlin to knock the runs off and see Rasen home in the 19th over. Rasen’s third win of the season sees them leapfrog Keelby and Hykeham and soar up to the heady heights of sixth in Lincs League Division Four. However, this season’s unbalanced schedule means that five of their last nine games will be against the triumvirate of South Kelsey, Caistor and Old Lincolnians, so they’ll be out to garner whatever’s on offer when they visit Brigg on Saturday for what the home team will surely be viewing as a vital encounter.