Queens Park Westfield 1st XI picked up back-to-back wins in the Bedfordshire County Cricket League Premier Division with a low-scoring three-wicket victory at The Hardy Vale against Flitwick on Sunday (29 June).
After beating reigning champions, Lutonian last week, Queens Park went on the road to the 2023 champions, Flitwick and managed to chase 131 in nervous fashion to remain fifth.
Read: Queens Park and Biddenham both win in Premier Division as bat dominates
Jahangir Ahmed (3-10) continued his good form with ball in hand as Flitwick – who are still in the relegation zone with one win – could only muster 131/8 in their 40 overs with captain, Carl Ferguson top scoring with 50.
Queens Park were in serious trouble at 71/7 as Liam Peters picked up a three-wicket haul of his own for the home side, but Sebghat Ullah struck a swift unbeaten 36 from nine in the batting order to take his team over the line with a little over two overs remaining.
Biddenham have been faring excellently in their first division in Bedfordshire’s top tier, but stumbled on Sunday in falling to a 56-run victory against Southill Park.
Ajay Momi came agonisingly short of an excellent century, hitting 99 from 81 balls to set Southill up for a strong total of 272 all out, assisted by 51 from Gurpreet Singh, with Amarpal Singh, Thomas Nelson and Harjeet Sehmbi picking up three wickets apiece.
Biddenham’s chase began well, as Abhilash Pandey (61) and Charlie Searle (38) shared a first wicket partnership of 97, but wickets fell regularly from then on with Ayaz Hussain picking up 3-37 for the Park, who ran out comfortable victors.
Bedford lose for the first time
Bedford Cricket Club’s 100% record in Division One fell in painful fashion as they fell by six runs in a high-scoring game at Dunstable Town 2nd XI.
With a depleted 1st XI missing a number of key names, Bedford were put on the back foot thanks to an excellent total of 242/5 from Dunstable Town as Lee Pratt, Adam Lewis and Mohammed Junaid hit half-centuries for the home side.
Bedford’s captain Rohit Mehmi picked up two wickets, and he also led the chase with 67, but his wicket with the total on 222/7 stopped his side in its tracks, and despite a late 32 from Ryan Chambers, Bedford fell just short.
The defeat hands the initiative to Ickwell, who comfortably saw off Ampthill by 93 runs, and although Bedford still lead the division by seven points, Ickwell have a game in hand at the top.
Elstow win handsomely
Elstow enjoyed a perfect afternoon in the sun with a huge 195-run victory against Eversholt in Division Two, bowling their opponents out for just 64 at The Warren.
Their effort with the bat was led by opening batter, Gurraj Galsin whose 100 – along with a half-century for Faheem Mahmood – helped Elstow to 259/5; a total Eversholt were never close to reaching as Ben Lewis’ 4-5 stood out on a wonderful day with the ball.
Queens Park Westfield 2nd XI were also victors in the same division, beating Stony Stratford by 94 runs.
Posting a score of 222/8 was in large thanks to some brutal late hitting from Saram Nawaz who plundered 78 from 36 balls with seven fours and seven sixes before Aqib Iqbal picked up more wickets with 3-17 to help secure a comfortable win.
Harrold’s winning streak came to an end at Lutonian’s 2nd XI, losing by 88 runs despite a five wicket haul for Charlie Gordon, who claimed 5-20 in restricting Lutonian to 203, although the visitors fell well short.
Bedford’s 2nd XI won again in Division Four, rising to second in the division with a seven-wicket victory against Dunstable Town’s 3rd XI at The Bury.
Finley Harris’ 57 helped Dunstable to 170/3 from their allocation of overs, but it took Bedford no time to chase the target down thanks to 80 off 74 balls from Sonam Dhingra, alongside 40 for Bipin Nair, with the home side chasing the total with a little under ten overs to spare.
Kempston Hammers remain winless at the bottom of Division Five after an eight-wicket loss at league leaders, Eaton Bray, while Elstow’s 2nd XI were also on the wrong side of a handsome loss by seven wickets at Cople in Division Six.
Queen’s Park Westfield 4th XI were eight-wicket victors against Flitwick’s 4th XI, also in Division Six, with Subhan Hussain hitting a 50 in Queens Park’s chase of 152 while Harrold’s 2nd XI beat Blunham by 22 runs, with Dan Young scoring 64.
