RUGBY CC moved up to fifth in the Warwickshire Cricket League Premier Division with a clinical eight-wicket win against Bedworth CC.
After losing the toss and being asked to field, Rugby took wickets at regular intervals to prevent their hosts from putting together a meaningful partnership.
Seth Westley (3-48) accounted for both openers Abdul Hafeez (13) and Nicholas Thomas (2) before Lee Golding (2-35) took the wicket of Finn Haynes (15) to leave Bedworth on 32-3.
Rugby continued to impress with the ball as former Bedworth spinner Ash Cutts (3-50) removed Scott Friswell (12) before the introduction of Wes Landsdale (2-24) saw the dismissal of Raksy Puppala (25).
Despite a battling knock from Faizan Abdullah (40), he eventually fell to Cutts as Bedworth slumped to 136-8.
However, late bursts from Josh Thomas (27) and Andrew Ashby (20) lifted Bedworth’s total to 182 all out in 50 overs.
Rugby started confidently in reply with Henry Parker (23) the first to fall as Bedworth struggled to make any significant early inroads.
That dismissal brought Jeevan Barhey to the crease who put on 84 runs for Rugby’s second wicket with opener Hugh Cochrane.
Barhey (40) was eventually trapped lbw but Cochrane remained at the crease and passed his half-century on his way to a superb knock of 85 not out which included 14 boundaries.
And Landsdale (24 not out) helped steer Rugby to a comfortable win in the 41st over.
Rugby’s 2nd XI secured a similarly impressive eight-wicket win against Atherstone 1sts in Division Five to remain second in the table.
Skipper Bhavik Rathod lost the toss and Rugby were unsurprisingly asked to field first as Atherstone made a cautious start with the bat.
Suj Barhey (3-45) and James Nuttall (2-70) bowled a tight line with good control to restrict the runs and it was not long before the former was in the wickets, accounting for opener Lewis Wrigley (5).
A lightning quick outfield, lat track and hot weather made things difficult for Rugby’s bowlers and fielders as James Burch (51) top scored for Atherstone and was well-supported by Kieran Wordsworth (44).
And Adam Clements (33), Jack Patel (30), Cameron Hobbs (27 not out) and Daniel Privett (25) helped Atherstone reach a daunting 271-8 from their 50 overs.
Undeterred, Rugby made a strong start as Charlie Robards (124 not out) and Alex Watson (78) put on a sensational 169-run stand for the first wicket.
Watson was eventually bowled with Rugby in complete command before youngster Joe Bramley (23) helped the visitors tick along nicely.
And his dismissal brought Nuttall to the crease who scored a quickfire 38 off just 27 balls to help Rugby pass the required total in 43.5 overs whilst Robards remained unbeaten after producing a sensational innings.
Rugby’s 3rd XI extended their lead at the top of Division Eight South Central with a winning draw against closest rivals Coventry WIW.
Batting first, Rugby’s openers Keval Rathod (32) and Tom Binding (17) made a good start with a 56-run partnership.
From this point, there were pleasing contributions throughout the order for Rugby, with stand-in captain Akshay Vaghela (46) top scoring.
George Robards (33), Tom Rigby (25), Kurran Barhey (21), The Nelson (23 not out) and Rubans (17 not out) all chipped in as Rugby finished on 257-7 from their 45 overs.
Coventry WIW’s reply started well and wickets proved hard to come by for Rugby until they introduced leg spinning duo Barhey and Rathod.
They bowled in tandem with great skill to share seven wickets as Rathod (4-41) and Barhey (3-38) took all but one of Rugby’s wickerts.
Half-centuries from Mohit Kare (52) and Bilal Aslam (59) kept the home side in the game only for the required run rate to become too much as Coventry WIW closed on 219-8.
Lastly, in Division Nine South Central, Rugby’s 4th XI secured a winning draw against Berkswell thanks to a superb innings from Aravind Ram.
And the result ensured Rugby took a club record total of 82 points across the four matches played last weekend.
Rugby batted first at Bilton Grange and opener Ram dominated from the outset, striking a staggering 33 boundaries in an innings of 153.
Matthew Browne (29) and Sajjad Hussain (31) offered good top order support, before number 11 Kiran Clark hit a swashbuckling 40.
Rugby’s total of 324 was always going to be a tough ask for Berkswell, who were content to bat out their overs in reply and scored 159-7.
Clark (2-34) completed a strong debut and was the pick of Rugby’s attack, whilst Anil Orunganti, Jag Barhey, Browne, Will Briggs and Ram Kumar all took a wicket each.
