The latest round of the Bedfordshire County Cricket League saw two sides within a stone’s throw of each other face off in the Premier Division as Queens Park Westfield finally got off the mark with a convincing win at Biddenham.
Shivasurya Krishna’s 4-21 did the majority of the damage with ball in hand for Queens Park, skittling Biddenham for just 111; a total that was nowhere near enough as Westfield were able to knock them off with over 14 overs remaining.
Biddenham kickstarted their Premier Division campaign last weekend with an impressive victory at one of the league’s favourites in Flitwick, after a disastrous 200-run defeat at Lutonian on the opening day.
Queens Park had fared worse, losing both of their first two games to Caldecote and Biggleswade, but were able to get on the board with a much-needed win against promoted side, Biddenham on Sunday.
Sam Kumar top scored with 23 for Biddenham on another chastening day with bat in hand, with Amaan Mehmood guiding Queens Park home easily with an unbeaten 32, despite Jack White picking up two wickets in a game where ball dominated bat.
Queens Park Westfield jump to fifth, while Biddenham are in seventh in the early stages of this nine-team Premier Division, where Flitwick sit rock bottom after a third defeat in three games.
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Bedford CC had a free week in Division One, where both Ickwell and Ampthill are setting the early pace with three victories apiece but Elstow were back in action in Division Two, narrowly losing a high-scoring affair against Lutonian’s 2nd XI.
They fell just 14 runs short of a large Lutonian total of 250 despite Vikram Masih’s new ball effort of 4-41 and the Elstow chase began at breakneck speed, thanks to 98 off 60 balls from opener, Raja Shahid.
The chase stuttered in the second half of the innings however, and despite 45 from Sam Kelly and some late hitting from Adam Thomas (36 off 37), Elstow fell marginally short.
Queens Park Westfield’s 2nd XI were also involved in a tight match in the same division, winning by a meagre six runs against Harrold.
Aqib Iqbal, who took figures of 7-9 last weekend, was back in the wickets again as his 4-20 helped Queens Park defend a modest 120 to remain third in Division Two.
Queens Park’s 3rd XI fell by 40 runs at home to Hitchin in Division Three, while Harrold were able to exact some revenge in the 2nd XI clash against Westfield, winning by 7 wickets in Division Six.
Kempston Hammers’ tricky start to the new season continued as they were skittled for just 82 in Division Five, but they battled back admirably with the ball, lead by James Exley who took 5-19 but they eventually lost by four wickets.
