RAM CC v HIMALAYANS

Ram cc toured in Cyprus from March 16th to 21st 2007, playing three games at Happy Valley in Episkopi on the west of the island.

Their first game was against the Himalayans. Himalayans won the toss and elected to field .

Tight bowling by the Himalayan opening bowlers restricted the RAM CC batsmen to 55 runs for four wickets in the first half of the game. Too many extras and an ordinary fielding display by the Himalayans helped RAM CC reach 118 in 28 overs

The Opening batsman for RAM CC, Rakesh held one end and went on to score 26 before being caught and bowled by Paritosh. Nikesh scored an useful 20 towards the end to help RAM CC get to a defendable score, before getting out to a stunning catch by Rohan at point. Dinesh and Tarun scored 11 runs each and contributed to the total.

Steady batting by the Himalayan openers Rajaram and Paritosh took them to 50 without loss in 10 overs, before both of them lost their wickets in quick succession. Paritosh had contributed a quick-fire 35 in this stand. The No. 3 batsman for the Himalayans, Jalaj started slowly but steadily before freeing his arms to some excellent strokes and stayed till the end scoring 35 valuable runs. He was supported well by Kapil who scored 18 runs before getting out to the bowling of Nikesh. In the end, Jalaj, playing his last game for Himalayans took them to victory.

Brief scores: RAM CC ­ 118 all out in 28 overs (Half time score 55/4 in 15 overs)

RAM CC Batting ­ Rakesh - 26; Nikesh ­ 20; Sandeep ­ 13

Himalayan Bowling ­ Sunil 6-1-13-2; Jalaj 6-0-23-3; Akshay 4-0-20-3

Himalayan ­ 119/6 in 28.4 overs (Half time score 62/3 in 15 overs)

Himalayan Batting ­ Jalaj 35 n.o; Paritosh 35; Kapil - 18 RAM CC Bowling ­ Tarun 6-0-21-2; Sandeep 4.4-0-16-2; Mitesh 6-1-1

RAM CC v CYPRUS TEAM

The first game in Cyprus cricket preparation for the Euro Div 3 champs in August this year took place at Happy Valley on Sunday March 18th. The opposition was Ram CC, a club in the second division of the Sussex League in the UK. This was a side made up of players of all abilities from first team to novices who had come to Cyprus to mix cricket with a bit of sun and sea.

Cyprus went in to bat and immediately found themselves in trouble as Sampath Arthanayake and Niroshan were both caught to opening bowlers Nikesh and Mitesh with only 6 runs on the total. Opening bat Sarwar was looking steady however and was now joined by last season¹s batsman of the year, Dileepa.

The early panic subsided as a partnership began to develop. Sarwar was batting without taking risks while Dileepa began cautiously, then flamboyantly and then outrageously as he took the Ram CC bowlers apart in an innings of eleven fours and eight sixes for a total of 115 before retiring.

Sarwar fell to Dinesh for 33 in an applied innings, showing his ability for the first time in Cyprus colours. This had brought Chamara to the crease with Dileepa in full swing at the other end. Chamara didn¹t need an invitation and began to swing as hard an effectively as Dileepa, finding the boundary as often. Dileepa and Sarwar partnership had been worth 87 runs, this partnership added another 100 before Dileepa retired.

Chamara continued with Danuka to make the second century of the match, giving up a catch to Nikesh on 103, an innings of three fours and ten sixes. Mike Kyriacou and Danuka continued to pillage the Ram CC bowlers to give Cyprus a final score of 299 for five after 35 overs.

Ram went to bat without too much expectation of matching that total, but openers Rakesh and Tarun put up a fight. Tarun fell to fourth change bowler Niroshan for 23, surviving 13 overs of fast bowling from Chamara and Chris Markides and accurate swing bowling from Sampath A before being caught.

Rakesh saw one partner after another walking back to rejoin his friends on the boundary while he carved a stylish innings with nine boundary fours in a total of 76 before being caught off spinner Dileepa, Leg spin from Muhammed and Andricos saw off the tail to finish Ram CC innings all out for 128 after 32 overs. UK teams always find it hard to adapt to the high bounce and rough outfield of Cyprus grounds. Rakesh showed the Cyprus team how apply his technique to the conditions, a valuable lesson they will need to remember when batting on the sodden pitches in Antwerp.

Cyprus batting

Sarwar 33,Sampath Arthanayake 2, Niroshan 0, Dileepa 115 no, Chamara 103, Danuka 15, Mike K 10 no

Ram CC bowling

Nikesh 7 over 67 for 2 wkts, Mitesh 4-20-1, Tarun 7-58-0, Dinesh 7-55-1, Kirat 5-40-0, Vishal 1-15-0 , Sandip 4-29-1

Ram CC batting

Rakesh 76, Tarun 23, Sanjay 0, Kam 1, Kirat 4 (ret hurt), Mitesh 10, Denzil 4, Sundeep 8, Mandj 0, Butki 0,

Cyprus bowling

Chamara 4-16-0 , Chris M 4-21-0, Sampath A 4-24-0, Niroshan 6-16-2, Mike K 3-6-1, Nalaga 3-10-1, Muhammad 4-19-1, Dileepa 3-11-2, Andricas 1.2-2-2

RAM CC v WSBA

The WSBA Cricket Team played in first match of the new season against the Ram Cricket Club last Tuesday beating them by 7 wickets at Happy Valley The Crawley, Sussex ,based team were touring the island in a pre season warm up and had previously played the Himalayan Cricket Club and the Cyprus National Team although they had also lost those both games they put up stern resistance and were worthy opponents in all games.

Batting first in this 20 over encounter Ram reached 107 for 8 thanks to a superb 61 from left handed opener Sanjay Tarun . WSBA captain Richie Williams came on to bowl late in the innings and took 3-16 in just two overs. 13 year old Tom Mills, a promising young cricketer from St John¹s School bowled 3 overs of spin for just 13 runs and impressed the visitors with his fine fielding.

In reply Richie Williams (45) and Andy Mulkern (38no) shared an opening partnership of 72 to put WSBA in a strong position. A rapid 11 from Gaz Derbyshire ensured a comfortable win. For Ram CC Sanjay Tarun completed a fine all round match with 2 wickets for 10 runs.