Little Bardfield Village CC vs. Ipswich & East Suffolk CC 1st XI
Date: 8th June 2024
Venue: Chantry Park - Ipswich
Toss: Little Bardfield won the toss and chose to bowl
Ipswich Innings:
After a cross county road trip (2 counties for some of the dedicated Oxslip XI) Bardfield arrived at an overcast and slightly chilly Chantry Park ready to rock.
Following their assessment of a green looking pitch Bardfield won the toss and invited Ipswich to bat first – a choice they may have reversed after witnessing the onslaught that followed.
Ipswich got off to a good start, picking their spots well and making the most of some dropped catch opportunities from Bardfield. Shehzad Muhammad struck in the 12th to make it 68-1 with Bradley Clarke (20) unable to block out a rocket that sent his bails flying, much to the excitement of the Bardfield players who hoped this was the first of many wickets. Manoj Das and Charlie Murray had other ideas and kept the Ipswich total ticking up to 139 before Captain Rory Hitchcock struck sending Murray (43) back to the pavilion thanks to a catch from Will Slemmings.
Das (75) was next to fall, he found the safe hands of Ben Hounslow from a Matt Graham delivery which left Ipswich on 182/3 from 30 overs. The home side kicked into a higher gear at this point and added 100 runs in the next 11 overs. Mohammad Khan broke up the partnership of Hazelwood (no not that one) and Burman (71) by sending the latter packing with an excellent ball. Burman's replacement didn't last long with Kieran Cloud (1) surviving 4 balls before Rory bowled him clean also.
With the final ball of the 44th over Matt struck again, Karl Mildenhall (3) left the field with his bails firmly removed. This fall of wicket seemed to catch the next batsmen, James Gilderson, by surprise and there was a slight delay to proceedings before he emerged from the home changing room padded up. Bardfield then wrapped up the innings with the run out of Kareem Syed (1).
Ipswich finished up with an impressive 307/7.
Bardfield Innings:
After an excellent tea (big thank you Ipswich!) Matt and Khan went out to the middle determined to get the Bardfield chase off to a flying start and they did not disappoint. Khan put on a hell of a batting show with 10 fours and 8 sixes in a display that rocked the confidence of the home team. Sadly like all good things his run came to the end as he tried to add to his collection of sixes and was caught by Das on the rope but not before reaching his maiden Bardfield hundred! He left the field to the applause of his team mates, the opposition and those watching after racking up an amazing 107 runs from 78 balls and giving Bardfield hope that the chase was achievable. Bardfield were 155/1 from 21.5 overs.
Matt was joined in the middle by Daryl Hymas (who was celebrating his 37th Birthday for the 12th year in a row - congratulations to our resident groundsman) but the runs became harder to come by with some tight Ipswich bowling. Matt (45), trying to get the score moving, was caught by Gilderson off a Hazelwood delivery. Rory (8) was up next but this partnership didn't last long as Daryl (15) fell to another Hazelwood ball before he himself was sent packing, being caught by Church much to the delight of the bowler with the score now 197-4 from 30 overs.
Callum Hymas and Will occupied the middle attempting to bat aggressively to move the score along and chase the big total, in doing so Callum (11) was caught by Das off yet another Hazelwod delivery before Das struck again catching Will (26) and then 2 overs later Nelion Ridley (1). The score was 238/7 from 39 overs, knowing the run rate needed to be pushed so carried on with the aggressive batting approach.
Shehzad (3) was next to fall, a Clarke catch from a Cloud ball. Sam Goodfellow joined Jack Davies in the middle with the game beyond the grasp of Bardfield and maximum batting points already secured. Jack (11) was caught by Clarke from another Cloud delivery, Ben joined Sam in the middle, both determined to keep the 10th wicket intact.
Despite some frantic running they saw the innings over the line and Bardfield finished 251/9, 56 runs short of the win. Any other game so far this season that total would have won the match comfortably but sadly Bardfield were left regretting too many dropped catch opportunities that could have changed the game. Never the less it was a great batting effort and a special shout out to Khan for his maiden 100 for the club, well done!
