Ross-on-Wye Cricket Club’s 1st XI hosted Harborne Cricket Club’s 3rd XI at The Park on Saturday, May 14th. Ross Captain Harry Porter lost his third consecutive toss this season, and Ross were put into bat first on a slow damp pitch.

Ross were quickly pegged back, losing their first wicket with only six runs on the board as Jack Evans (0) was bowled while playing a wayward slog. The second wicket fell only two balls later, as Jack Donovan was caught at mid-on also for nought, and Ross were 6-2.

Harry Porter and James Tiffen ‘steadied the ship’, but Porter was stumped by a piece of sharp work by the Harborne wicket keeper for 25 with the score on 37. Graham Howls then joined Tiffen and some resistance was formed until Tiffen was bowled by Greg Adams for 25. Howls, 28, departed soon after and Ross were struggling at 84-5.

The hosts found respite in the form of Tim Dulson and Josh Element who put on 33 for the sixth wicket, but a mis-timed drive saw Dulson’s demise. Ross ended all out for 161 with Josh Element finishing 29 not out.

The Harborne innings saw openers Sam Sherwin and Ben Langdell scoring quickly on a pitch that looked to provide more for the slower bowlers. Spin was quickly into the attack through Muhammad Arif and James Tiffen and the run rate started to slow.

The first wicket fell with the score on 63 when Tiffen trapped Langdell LBW for 33 and immediately followed up with a second wicket when he bowled Nicholson for 0. Harborne captain Jamie Hall then came to the crease and with some tight bowling from Josh Element and Tiffen the Harborne’s run rate slowed with 16 of the middle overs yielding a mere 33 runs.

The third and final wicket to fall came when Tiffen had Sherwin caught by Graham Howls for 32 off 102 balls. Ross looked on track for a winning draw, but Harborne captain Hall and Usman Sajid had different ideas as they started to score more freely.

Harborne hit the winning runs in the 46th over to win by seven wickets, with captain Hall finishing 45 not out and Sajid 36 not out. The pick of the Ross bowlers were James Tiffen 15.3-5-36-3 and Josh Element 9-2-22-0.

Ross will look to bounce back away at Netherton at the weekend.