Rye suffered a narrow defeat to rivals, Crawley on Saturday in this Sussex division four clash. Rye captain Gary Willis lost the toss and Rye were asked to field first.
Crawley started steadily and were then 2 down with Willis (2-31) taking both wickets. Then it was the turn of Kshemal Waingankar to take the first of his 6 wickets, but with Crawley 3 down they then built a partnership worth over 50 with Kunal Kapoor 53 and Harry Chaudhary 37 stabilising the their innings. Waingankar then removed Kapoor with Jackson Woodcock taking his second sharp catch of the game. Chaudhary was then dismissed by Harry Smeed with Will Wheeler taking a superb catch at long on.
Waingankar continued to take wickets at regular intervals and with Crawley seven down play was halted by a short rain delay. After the resumption, Waingankar then took 2 of the final 3 wickets to finish with 6-51 and the final wicket was taken by Smeed (2-44) with James Hamilton taking a neat catch at slip to conclude the Crawley innings on 172.
At the halfway stage Rye felt that 172 was very gettable on a good batting wicket. The innings started well with openers Dan Seabrook and Hamilton putting on 50 for the first wicket before Hamilton was dismissed for 24. They then slipped from 50-1 to 96-6 including losing top scorer Seabrook for a well compiled 52. Jack Dudley and Mark Cook came together at the fall of the 7th wicket and proved a useful partnership until Cook was removed by Kapoor for 35. Kapoor then claimed the final 2 wickets to finish with 5-43 with Dudley stranded on 10 not out and the team all out for 140, falling 32 short. Rye will, however, look to bounce back when league leaders Mayfield visit the salts.
Last Saturday Rye 2nd XI entertained Crowhurst Park 2nd XI in a match sponsored by Viva Wellbeing. The game was as topsy turvy as the rest of the season. The young 2nd XI can ride the crest of a wave and then plumb the depths in a very short space of time, as Saturday was to prove again. The game started badly as Rye lost the toss and were invited to bat on an overcast drizzly afternoon. Quickly Rye were 28-4 as S. Bunday and I. Flanagan took 2 wickets apiece. Then the fightback. Craig Pierce with 58 supported by Martin Blincow took the score past 100. Then when they were both dismissed by Darren Corke 4-56, the tail wagged as Ross Pierce 23, Tobias Farrow 31 and Alasdair Bailey 34 took the home side to 195 all out but only using 48 of the 53 available overs.
After tea Rye maintained the momentum and quickly made inroads into the Crowhurst Park innings. Olly Rhys Jones took 3-39 supported by Alasdair Bailey 2-24, with some very good catching by Bailey and Tony Cousins, put Rye in the box seat. However opener Cameron Flanagan was still there and joined by Darren Corke now took the game away from Rye as they pushed Park past the winning post of 195 with 5 wickets to spare with Rye failing to exert any pressure as the wicket played true, and the outfield provided no barrier to the well hit shot.
The 3rd XI fixture against Newhaven 3rd XI was a run-fest as Rye made 232 all out, thanks to Ed Jury 94 and James Jury 62. The pick of the Newhaven bowlers was Steve Izzard 6-65. In reply Newhaven finished on 195-9 with Rye just finishing 1 wicket short of victory. For Newhaven Steve Izzard top scored with 65 and for Rye Tony Goodsell took 4-53.
On the Colts scene, the U17 defeated Boughton to maintain their 100% record as did the U13 defeating Rolvenden. The U15 defeated Mersham. This Saturday the 1st XI entertain Mayfield in a match sponsored by My Sweet Old Etcetera, and the 2nd XI make the reverse journey. The 3rd XI have a free week.
Photo by Janet Tiltman