RUGBY Cricket Club slumped to a seven-wicket defeat against Solihull Blossomfield as the home side struggled with the bat in a limp performance.
Wes Landsdale (27) was the only Rugby batter to pass the 20-run mark whilst five others made double figures in vain.
The result means Rugby sit 10th in the Warwickshire County League Premier Division table.
Solihull made immediate inroads after winning the toss as Kasir Shah (1) was out lbw in the second over by Australian seamer Ethan Carrington (2-37).
Rugby were in trouble on 69-5 after Alex Watson (12), Owen Edwards (19), Divan Posthumus (6) and Landsdale all came and went without seriously troubling the Blossomfield bowlers.
Spinner Chris Kenny (4-28) was causing Rugby all sorts of problems as Levi Gekis (16), Matt Ewer (10) and Lee Golding (15 not out) were the only other batters to reach double figures.
Rugby were eventually all out for just 129 in 41.5 overs Matt Bentley (3-35) and Chris Kinman (1-14) took the other wickets.
Blossomfield came out with plenty of attacking intent in reply as openers Warwick Paull (16) and Jake Sammons (34) both hit useful knocks before they fell to Danny Sadiq (2-23) and Golding (1-22) respectively.
Sadiq also claimed the wicket of Alec Baker (11) before Edward Thompson (47 not out) and Kenny (14 not out) saw Solihull to victory in just 24.5 overs.
Rugby’s 2nd XI suffered a 43-run defeat against Knowle Village 1sts with a depleted batting line-up.
Knowle won the toss and elected to bat only for Rugby to make a stunning start with the ball to restrict the home side to 6-4.
Vishaal Rathod (3-35) and Aravind Katragadda (2-15) took two early wickets apiece before Olly Rodriguez (36) and Sam Newman (54) rebuilt Knowle’s innings with an 81-run stand.
However, after Suj Barhey (3-44) removed Rodriguez, Rugby took another four wickets for the loss of just 22 runs before Alex Rose (23 not out) helped Knowle reach 153 all out.
Rugby were without a number of key batters and were in trouble early on as Charlie Robards (2) and Rob Stipanovic (0) were unable to add any significant runs to leave the visitors on 9-2.
However, captain Bhavik Rathod (35) top scored but lacked support with only four other batters able to reach double figures as Rugby slumped to 56-7.
Barhey (20), V Rathod (11), Amaan Shah (11) and Jonathan Sage (10) all chipped in as the visitors were all out for 110 in 34.2 overs.
In contrast, Rugby’s third XI powered their way to a five-wicket win against Fillongley 2nds thanks in large part to James Nuttall’s impressive century.
Openers Kabir Matharu (35) and Phil Hammond (33) ensured Fillongley made a positive start before James Chapman (65) top scored.
However, Murali Natarajan (3-29) took the crucial wickets of Hammond and Chapman whilst Muhammad Obaid (3-26) accounted for Matharu.
Captain Liam Slaughter (1-56) claimed the only other wicket as Fillongley reached 222-7 at the end of their 50 overs.
In reply, Rugby lost opener Aravind Ram (0) in the first over before Nuttall (145) produced a sensational innings.
The opener hit 27 boundaries before he was eventually dismissed by Emmanuval Jose (2-26) and was supported by Obaid (23) and Saj Rizvi (13).
Darshin Solanki (12 not out) and Tom Rigby (13 not out) saw Rugby over the line with five wickets and 12 overs to spare.
Lastly, Rugby’s 4th XI consolidated top spot in their league with a dominant 234-run thrashing of Lapworth.
Rugby made a strong start with the bat as opener Ram Kumar Singh (121) scored his third century since his arrival to set up a match-winning total.
Useful knocks from Jag Barhey (44), Alan Wade (37 not out), Saj Hussain (30), Reece Jones (24 not out) and Tarun Ahuja (20) helped Rugby finish on a daunting 304-6 from their 45 overs.
Rugby’s bowlers wasted no time in taking wickets as Anil Oruganti (5-22) led the attack whilst Adithya Ashok Prakash (2-19), Jones (1-1) and Advay Pophali (1-17) also claimed scalps as Lapworth were skittled for just 75 runs in 24.2 overs.
