Ross 1st XI hosted Colwall at The Park on Saturday, July 29th, as they continued their pursuit of the Marches League Division Two title. Following heavy overnight rain the day started positively with Jack Donovan winning the toss and having no hesitation in asking the visitors to bat first.

This decision proved to be the correct one as Colwall were quickly reduced to 4-2 inside the first five overs. The first wicket fell courtesy of a fantastic pick up and throw by Harry Friend for a run out, immediately followed by the deadly accurate Chloe Tingle (1-12) inducing an edge to slip where Dom Asquith safely pouched the catch. Masud Ahmed and Robbie Nixon continued to create pressure as Colwall scored at just two runs an over. The three bowlers set a platform for Harry King to take centre stage and he bowled his 12 overs in one spell of exceptional line and length, beating the bat time and time again to finish with 4-19, clean bowling three of his victims and backed up by the bucket hands of Charlie Cole at mid-off for his other wicket. King was supported by Donovan who struck with his first ball and went on to finish with three wickets of his own before Ahmed (11.3-5-14-1) returned to the attack to end the innings by having Colwall’s top scorer, Adam Greaves (43) caught behind by Jim Lewis. This left the visitors all out for just 94 and the only concern for the Hedgehogs around the tea table was whether the rain would stay away long enough for the run chase to be completed. 

The Ross innings also got off to a rocky start with Friend and Donovan both perishing early on to create a few nerves in the pavilion. Ahmed (21) scored fluently but when he departed Ross were 38-3 and the visitors sensed that they could still win the game. Joining Toby Hiram at the crease was 14-year-old debutant Adam Parkes who showed some excellent technique, whilst Hiram picked up where he had left off at Canon Frome last weekend, dominating all the bowlers with some beautiful shots to all parts of the ground. Parkes stood firm with a solid defence and then played the shot of the day with a fantastic cover drive off the opening bowler which was hauled in just short of the boundary.

Hiram plundered a total of ten boundaries in scoring a second successive half century, finishing on 57 not out, whilst Parkes’ patient innings of 5 not out off 33 balls enabled the pair to add the 58 runs needed to take Ross to a very comfortable 7 wicket victory inside 22 overs and well before the heavy rain finally arrived!

The result sees Ross maintain their advantage at the top of the table and, next up, the Hedgehogs head over to Ledbury for the final away fixture of the season.