Bedford Cricket Club’s Sunday 1st XI won the season’s first big encounter towards the top of the Bedfordshire County Cricket League after they beat Ampthill’s 1st XI by 82 runs in Division One on Sunday (25 May).
They are now three from three after a break last week, but are still three points behind Ampthill, who have played a game more in the early throws of a competitive division.
After piling on 274 and 281 in their opening two fixtures, Bedford would have been confident of putting on a total batting first at The Park, and posted a solid 228 with three balls of their first innings remaining.
Vedant Somal (66) and captain, Rohit Mehmi (61) provided the anchors, despite James Potter’s 4-31 for the hosts before spin took over for Bedford with Ampthill collapsing from 92-1 to 146 all out in response.
Andrew Tyson’s 64 looked to set Ampthill up well, but when spin arrived, the game changed as Jonny Dove (4-31) and player of the match, Somal (4-36) rolled through the batting line-up.
Arjun Manku (2-18) also reached the milestone of 500 wickets for Bedford as all ten Ampthill wickets fell to spin.
Bedford’s 2nd XI were also in action, and bounced back from defeat last week to defeat Clifton by 108 runs in Division Four.
Muhammad Imran’s quickfire 45 from 24 balls was the highest individual scorer as most players contributed to a total of 283, with Clifton only reaching 175 in response.
Biddenham win again
After an opening weekend calamity for Biddenham in the Premier Division, many may have thought it could turn into a long season, but they won again on Sunday to climb to fourth in the Bedfordshire County Cricket League’s Premier Division.
Jack White (4-43) and James Gaul (3-26) did the majority of the damage with ball in hand as Biddenham restricted Biggleswade to a chaseable 191 and despite frequent scares, Sam Kumar’s unbeaten 69 was able to guide his team home.
Muhammad Qadoos took three wickets despite leaking 70 runs for Biggleswade, while Hamad Arshad’s 3-26 threatened to de-rail Biddenham’s chase through the middle overs, but they held on to win by two wickets and post their second victory in four league games.
Queens Park Westfield also won in dramatic fashion; winning by a single wicket against league holders, Lutonian at Allen Park.
A notoriously difficult batting pitch left Lutonian with just 132 to defend as wickets were shared amongst a fired up Queens Park bowling attack, and they were guided home by captain, Hassan Yousaf whose unbeaten 46 anchored a tricky chase.
Big victory for Elstow
There were two big wins in Division Two for the Borough’s clubs as Elstow’s 1st XI brushed aside Letchworth Garden City by 10 wickets, chasing 150 at The Warren.
Alexander Couling’s 3-4 was the standout with the ball for Elstow, but the headlines were stolen by opening batter, Raja Shahid who plundered an unbeaten 97 in just 42 balls to help his side to their target inside 14 overs.
Queens Park Westfield’s 2nd XI also won handsomely, dismissing Eversholt’s 2nd XI for just 89 to win by 120 runs, moving up to second in Division Two.
Ghulam Murtaza’s 65 was the mainstay in a total of 209 for Queens Park, with Mohammed Ali taking four wickets as the Eversholt batting order collapsed.
Harrold were also narrow victors in Division Two, winning for the first time this season against Preston.
Joe Peckham (73) was ably supported by opener, Simon Pritchard (49) as Harrold posted a defendable score of 173/9 and were able to do so, as they kept Preston at bay to win by 14 runs, with Peckham (4-30) also in the wickets.
Queens Park’s 3rd XI narrowly lost in Division Three, by three wickets to Eggington Foresters 2nd XI, while their 4th XI in Division Six also lost to Cople by 49 runs.
Also in Division Six, Elstow’s 2nd XI were bundled out for 84 at Bletchley Town, losing by four wickets while Harrold’s 2nd XI also lost handsomely by 8 wickets against Biggleswade’s 2nd XI.
