Rainham Cricket Club captain Jas Hothi delighted with Mid-Essex League Division One victory at Ingatestone

Jon O’Neill shone with the ball and helped his team get over the line before thunder and lightning occured at the ground

Rainham captain Jas Hothi was full of praise for his team and opponents Ingatestone after winning in the Mid-Essex League Division One at the weekend.

The Spring Farm Park outfit bowled first and dismissed the hosts for just 61 with Jon O’Neill in fine form and finishing with 6-11 off his 9.4 overs.

Dipal Patel contributed 4-46 as Ingatestone were all out inside 19 overs. The skipper then hit 25 not out in reply as Rainham won by eight wickets to move up to fourth in the standings.

“It was one of the best games I’ve played in for a long time and especially when the rain did come,” said Hothi. “Half an hour after we had won you could hear the thunder and lightning so everyone was really pleased with the result.

“To get the full 26 points when a lot of others were affected by the weather made the win that little bit better.

“We didn’t come off during the game and Ingatestone did a great job because when we got there the wicket was fantastic. It was rock hard despite the rain and Jon was just sensational with the ball.

“There was a period of five minutes where the rain got a bit heavy and you wondered if the umpires would take us off, but they didn’t. Ingatestone didn’t try to waste time or anything like that either so full credit to them.”

Even though Dipal Patel claimed four scalps, Hothi admitted he has seen the opening bowler perform better.

Rainham’s captain was pleased with the display in the field, however, and admitted it was a good day overall, but a tense one.

“Dipal backed Jon up at the other end, although he will be the first to tell you he has bowled better than that,” said Hothi.

“Having said that he has bowled better and only taken one or two wickets so it was pleasing to see him get four.

“He did deliver a lot of wicket-taking balls and once we got them five down we knew we had to go for it.

“It was a nice day for me as captain, but also a tense one because you knew the rain was going to come eventually and we had to score fast.”

After dismissing Ingatestone so cheaply, Rainham knew they needed to reach their target quickly with the heavens waiting to open.

They did just that by racing home in the 11th over of the innings with the captain unbeaten on 25 and O’Neill not out on 11.

Hothi added: “I have not got the big score I’ve wanted so far, but it was good to get us over the line on Saturday. The most important thing is the win and it was pleasing to play a part in that and help us get another result.

“All the boys are terrific, they play for the team and not themselves so I didn’t even need to say to people we need quick runs.

“First of all we needed to play sensible shots, but at the same time you only needed to look up at the sky to know we didn’t have much time.”