Bedfordshire County Cricket Club continued to compete in Group Three of the National Counties T20, as they shared the victories with Oxfordshire in the third round of fixtures at Boundary Park in Didcot.
Bedfordshire captain, Jake Tarling’s crushing century in the second game helped his side to victory after Oxfordshire comfortably won the first, with both sides taking home two points apiece on a high-scoring afternoon of cricket.
Bedfordshire are now third in the division, level with Berkshire and Buckinghamshire in group three on eight points, with two group stage games remaining, although the top three in each pool go through to the Super 12s.
Following Sunday’s fixtures, Oxfordshire and Wales are in fourth and fifth respectively on four points, and a lot would need to go wrong for Bedfordshire not to qualify.
An afternoon of two halves
On Sunday (21 June), Bedfordshire travelled to Boundary Park in Didcot to face Oxfordshire in the latest double header of the National Counties T20 competition, and picked up two points from an available four.
Following a double victory in Wales, and a sharing of wins against Buckinghamshire at Leighton Buzzard Cricket Club, Bedfordshire were looking to secure qualification with four more points in Oxfordshire.
Read: Dunk stars as Bedfordshire win one of two T20s against Buckinghamshire
What transpired was a day of two halves, as Oxfordshire thrashed Bedfordshire by 116 runs, before Tarling’s century saw Bedfordshire roar back to a five-wicket victory in the second game.
25-year old South African, Hayden Rossouw led the way for Oxfordshire in the first game, plundering a 28-ball 66 in an innings that included six sixes.
All nine batters who took to the crease for Oxfordshire scored at over a run a ball as they posted an imposing target of 218/7 from their 20 overs, despite 3-35 for Jake Tarling at the start of an impressive individual display.
Bedfordshire’s batting in the first game left a lot to be desired however, as they were skittled for just 102 with Patrick Harrington top scoring with 29 before being run out.
The 116-run margin of victory was a thrashing, but Tarling’s men would come out fighting in the second game, led by the skipper himself.
11 sixes for Tarling
At the halfway stage of the second game, it looked as if history was about to repeat itself as Oxfordshire racked up their second innings of over 200.
With three half centurions in captain HD Ward (54), Dylan Driscoll (63 not out) and Sravan Konidena (56 not out), Oxfordshire looked well set to steal all four available points, but didn’t bank on the Tarling masterclass that followed.
Chasing a target of 222, opening batter Tarling hit a total of 11 sixes, alongside four boundaries as his innings of 108 from just 52 balls set the platform for a perfectly timed chase that allowed Bedfordshire to take the win with six balls remaining.
Kashif Ali also hit four sixes in his brief innings of 36 from 19 balls at the death, with Zaid Faleel and Archie Houghton finishing off the chase to earn Bedfordshire a key two points.
It leaves Bedfordshire in third on eight points, level with Berkshire and Buckinghamshire above them but behind on nett run rate.
The fourth and final round of fixtures – games seven and eight in the pool stage – are against current leaders, Berkshire, taking place at Wardown Park in Luton on Sunday, 5 July with just one point needed to secure qualification.
Buckinghamshire host Wales in Marlow on the same day, while Oxfordshire cannot qualify having now played all eight of their group stage games.
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Read: Bedford Independent extends commitment to local sport with County Cricket Club partnership
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