RUGBY’s unbeaten run came to an abrupt ending on Saturday as they clashed with the Premier Division’s other form side and came off second best at Olton.
It is always a fine batting surface at Olton and, on a hot day, it was an important toss to win, which meant the hosts had no hesitation in choosing to make first use of the facilities when Rugby’s captain Owen Edwards guessed incorrectly at the toss.
Edwards and Lee Golding shared the new ball for Rugby and built early pressure, removing both openers, but a missed chance to remove number three Marc Webb soon became costly.
While Webb anchored the innings, Asif Ali took the attack to the visitors and raced to 41 before being dismissed by Matt Ewer.
The game was well balanced at 87 for 3, but a sensational innings from Dan Ceillam took the game away from Rugby in the second half of the innings.
He showed his attacking intention from the outset, striking the ball cleanly to all areas of the ground as Rugby began to wilt in the heat.
He and Webb added 145 runs before the impressive Golding (2 for 57) finally had Webb (54) caught in the deep.
Tom Wilkins picked up another quick wicket, but the runs kept coming and Ceillam raced past his century in emphatic style, finishing the innings on an unbeaten on 137 off 98 balls as Olton propelled to 299 for 5 from their 50 overs.
Rugby’s reply started disastrously, as South African quick Aristides Karvelas burst through Asaad Qureshi’s defence and bowled him just two balls into the innings.
Rishi Tank (21) and Mike Powell (18) began to lay the foundations for Rugby’s reply, but 31 for 1 suddenly became 58 for 5 as Rugby imploded through a combination of good bowling and poor shot selection.
Henry Wilkins (64) staged a brief fight back for Rugby with an entertaining knock that included a sublime upper cut for six and he was well supported by Henry Parker (33).
However, once their partnership was broken, Rugby’s lower order did not offer much resistance and the Town were bowled out for 170 in the 44th over.
