Bedford Cricket Club Sunday 1st XI completed a league double over local rivals, Biddenham on Sunday (28 June) as they rose to third in the Premier Division of the Bedfordshire County Cricket League.
However, they were unable to leapfrog Queen’s Park Westfield who remain second after a high-scoring win at Flitwick, securing their sixth win in seven league games.
Both sit behind reigning champions, Luton Town and Indians who are 19 points clear at the summit as they look to defend their top tier title.
Mehmi back in the runs
On the first day of the league season, Rohit Mehmi put Biddenham to the sword, scoring an excellent century to set up a 73-run win in their first game back in the Premier Division.
Read: Mehmi ton helps Bedford to local bragging rights on first day of the new cricket season
And the captain was top scorer again on Sunday, racing to an unbeaten 52 from 34 balls to help Bedford chase a Biddenham total of 124 inside 18 overs.
Earlier in the day, Ryan Chambers had ripped through the Biddenham top order to claim 4-34, alongside a brace of wickets for Arjun Manku as Biddenham’s frailties with the bat came to the fore again.
Amarpal Singh took both of Biddenham’s wickets, but Bedford rarely looked troubled in a simple chase that leaves them in third on 151 points following the eight-wicket triumph, while Biddenham drop to the foot of the division.
Remaining above Bedford are Queen’s Park Westfield who came out on the winning side of a classic against Flitwick at the Hardy Vale.
Batting first, Queen’s Park posted a daunting target of 263/7 with multiple batters contributing to the total, led by Zahid Ali Khan’s 77 and wickets shared between six Flitwick bowlers.
Despite being up against it at the halfway stage, Flitwick mounted an impressive comeback led by a brilliant opening partnership of 182 between matchday captain, Harry Thurstance and Australian overseas batter, Blake Nikitaris.
Thurstance (107) led the way, while Nikitaris fell just short of a ton of his own with 93, and although number three batter, Hamd Waheed contributed with 36, the rest of the Flitwick order were all dismissed for single figures as they fell nine runs short.
Musa Ilyas (3-56) and Khan (3-36) were the main contributors to the Flitwick downfall, as Westfield remain second.
Despite some impressive knocks in the Premier Division, the prize for innings of the week goes to Ickwell’s Ben Welch who smashed a 103-ball 170 in their win at Southill Park.
Around the grounds
Elsewhere in the league setup, Harrold continued their fine start in Division Two as they comfortably beat Letchworth Garden City by 88 runs.
Danidu Hewage’s 63 led the way to a more than respectable total of 232/6 at Whitethorn Lane, with both Tom Nicol and Charlie Gordon taking three wickets apiece for Harrold as they dismissed Letchworth for 144.
Harrold remain third, level on points with Lutonian 2nd XI, but 22 points behind league leaders, Milton Keynes Warriors.
Elstow maintained their 100% record in Division Three with a five-wicket victory against Southill Park 2nd XI.
Batting first, Southill posted a target of 169, with Elstow’s Vikram Masih taking 3-35, but it was Ben Lewis who stole the plaudits as he guided Elstow home with an unbeaten 57, although they had almost 16 overs in hand.
Bedford 2nd XI are chasing Elstow, and are up to third after victory at Hitchin.
Suhas Gatty led Bedford to a total of 233/8 as he top scored with 55, while Muhammad Umair took five wickets in the bowling effort as Hitchin slipped to 152 all out.
Queen’s Park Westfield 3rd XI were aided by a Milton Bryan concession in Division Four, as they picked up a vital 30 points towards the bottom of the league, while their 4th XI are finally on the board after a big win at Flitwick 3rd XI in Division Five.
In Division Six, both Harrold 2nd XI and Kempston Hammers were victors and sit second and third respectively.
