Reported By Andrew Holland

Harefield were the visitors to Buckingham on Saturday, and after winning the toss they elected to bat first.

Tom Day (10) and Jack Fosberry (15) opened up for Harefield and they saw through the opening half an hour before both fell in consecutive overs with a wicket apiece for Kallan Braid-Ball and George Humphries. Dhavalkumar Norotam had scored 13 when he was trapped lbw by Braid-Ball which brought Russell Petley and Lee Tyrrell to the wicket. The pair played and missed regularly, but saw off the opening bowlers and put on 38 for the fourth wicket. Braid-Ball returned to the attack to remove Tyrrell and Nuwan Jayasena chipped in with a wicket as the visitors reached 88 for 5 at lunch.

After the break Humphries struck quickly to remove Petley for 28 which brought Thomas McLeod to the wicket to join Jamie Knife. As with before the break Buckingham had both batsmen playing and missing on regular occasions, but they managed to survive and put on a partnership of 39. The partnership was finally broken when Braid-Ball removed Knife for 28 followed by skipper Jack Parish picking up his first wicket. Harefield skipper Doug King came in at number 10 and scored 24 from 15 balls to take the score up to 172 before Humphries took the final two wickets in the same over. McLeod finished 24 not out while Braid-Ball took 4 for 54 and Humphries 4 for 58.

Kallan Braid Ball

George Humphries

The Buckingham response got off to a bad start as Jordan McLeod and Doug King removed four of the top five inside 10 overs to reduce the hosts to 34 for 4. Leigh Tomlinson and Jack Deal came together, and while McLeod kept the pressure on from one end they were able to score off the change bowlers at the other. The pair put on 70 to take the score to 104 for 4 at tea.

Jack Deal

The pair moved the score onto 124 after tea before McLeod had Tomlinson caught at slip for 34. Deal went on to bring up his half century from 72 balls before he became McLeod’s fifth victim for 55. King returned to pick up Humphries and then McLeod claimed a sixth by removing Jayasena for 9. Lee Tyrrell removed Alex O’Dell and the game was finished when Thomas McLeod took a stunning one handed catch to remove Braid-Ball as Buckingham were all out for 154.

Harefield
T. Day+ lbw b Braid-Ball 10 (23)
J. Fosberry c O’Dell b Humphries 15 (32)
D. Norotam lbw b Braid-Ball 13 (17)
R. Petley c Parish b Humphries 28 (70)
L. Tyrrell c Pearson b Braid-Ball 15 (32)
P. Vyas lbw b Jayasena 8 (14)
J. Knife c O’Dell b Braid-Ball 28 (58)
T. McLeod Not Out 24 (67)
A. Seymour lbw b Parish 4 (11)
D. King* b Humphries 24 (15)
J. McLeod c& b Humphries 0 (3)
Extras (3lb) 3
Total 172 all out
57 overs

FoW: 26-1 (Day, 8.2); 26-2 (Fosberry, 9.5); 40-3 (Norotam, 14.2); 78-4 (Tyrrell, 24.3); 87-5 (Vyas, 27.4); 91-6 (Petley, 34.4); 130-7 (Knife, 46.5); 139-8 (Seymour, 51.5); 172-9 (King, 56.3); 172-10 (J. McLeod, 56.6)

K. Braid-Ball 17-5-54-4
G. Humphries 19-4-58-4
J. Parish 9-1-33-1
N. Jayasena 12-4-24-1

Buckingham
L. Gough c Day b King 8 (11)
S. Brunning c Day b J. McLeod 5 (4)
A. Pearson c Knife b J. McLeod 13 (18)
L. Tomlinson c King b J. McLeod 34 (65)
R. Large b J. McLeod 4 (9)
J. Deal b J. McLeod 55 (82)
J. Parish* Not Out 5 (18)
G. Humphries c Day b King 0 (3)
N. Jayasena lbw b J. McLeod 9 (6)
A. O’Dell+ c Day b Tyrrell 1 (11)
K. Braid-Ball c T. McLeod b King 0 (3)
Extras (11b, 4lb, 5w) 20
Total 154 all out
38.2 overs

FoW: 10-1 (Brunning, 1.6); 14-2 (Gough, 2.4); 28-3 (Pearson, 7.1); 34-4 (Large, 9.4); 124-5 (Tomlinson, 29.3); 139-6 (Deal, 33.2); 142-7 (Humphries, 34.1); 151-8 (Jayasena, 35.1); 153-9 (O’Dell, 37.4); 154-10 (Braid-Ball, 38.2)

D. King 13.2-0-53-3
J. McLeod 17-3-42-6
L. Tyrrell 5-1-26-1 (5w)
T. McLeod 2-0-13-0
D. Norotam 1-0-5-0

Harefield won by 18 runs.

Buckingham – 7 points
Harefield – 25 points

By Andrew Holland

Buckingham lost the toss and were asked to bat first by Amersham on Saturday.

Liam Gough and Steve Brunning opened up for Buckingham, and saw off the opening bowlers with a partnership of 31. Haseeb Ali was introduced into the attack in the 10th over and immediately struck as he removed Gough for 24. The in-form Ash Pearson came in at number 3, and alongside Brunning scored steadily up to the drinks break with a partnership of 72. Straight after the break Stuart Rogers made the breakthrough as he trapped Brunning lbw for 36. Pearson went on to bring up his 50 from 67 balls as he was joined by Rob Large and Buckingham began to start increasing the run rate heading into the last 20 overs. After adding 88 at a run a ball Rogers claimed a second wicket by dismissing Pearson for 73. Large brought up a 52-ball half century before falling to the returning Ali which left Jonny Cater and Jack Deal at the crease. They added 39 in just 27 balls with Cater making a 27 ball 38 before being bowled by Alexander Lines, and Deal finishing 17 not out (14 balls) as the innings closed on 270 for 5.

The Buckingham opening bowlers started well in defence of their total, Callum Price taking the early wicket of Adam Ali for 7. Paul Langley scored 24, and was looking settled before being dismissed by George Humphries. That brought Robert and Andrew Viney to the crease together. After a slow start they began to pick up the rate against the Buckingham change bowlers. Both passed their 50s, Robert from 66 balls and Andrew from 70 balls as they added 167 leaving the hosts needing 65 from the final 11 overs. Nuwan Jayasena returned to the attack and struck immediately as he had Robert Viney caught on the boundary for 88. Kallan Braid-Ball returned at the other end and between them the pair took regular wickets to slow the Amersham victory charge. 5 wickets fell for 28 runs leaving 37 needed from 27 balls with 3 wickets left, but Andrew Viney was still at the crease. The Amersham skipper looked set to take his side home, closing to within 13 runs of victory when he was caught on the boundary for 90. At the start of the final over Amersham needed 11, and Haseeb Ali scored 7 from 2 balls before hitting the winning runs with a 6. Jayasena took 4 for 59 from his 10 overs.

Buckingham
L. Gough c Jackson b H. Ali 24 (41)
S. Brunning lbw b Rogers 36 (65)
A. Pearson c Langley b Rogers 73 (97)
R. Large c Helm b H. Ali 52 (56)
J. Cater*+ b Lines 38 (27)
J. Deal Not Out 17 (14)
C. Price Not Out 5 (4)
Extras (12lb, 5w, 8nb) 25
Total 270-5
50 overs

FoW: 31-1 (Gough, 9.5); 103-2 (Brunning, 26.4); 191-3 (Pearson, 40.3); 213-4 (Large, 44.2); 252-5 (Cater, 48.4)

A. Lines 10-1-52-1 (2w)
S. Helm 10-0-62-0 (2nb)
H. Ali 8-0-44-2 (1w, 4nb)
S. Rogers 10-0-42-2 (1w)
M. Liyanapathiranage 10-0-52-0 (1w, 2nb)
M. John 2-0-6-0
Amersham
A. Ali b Price 7 (14)
P. Langley c Cater b Humphries 24 (40)
R. Viney+ c Price b Jayasena 88 (105)
A. Viney* c Large b Braid-Ball 90 (99)
M. Liyanapathiranage c Large b Jayasena 2 (9)
M. John c Price b Jayasena 5 (8)
L. Jackson lbw b Braid-Ball 0 (2)
S. Helm c Large b Jayasena 7 (6)
S. Rogers Not Out 7 (8)
H. Ali Not Out 13 (6)
Extras (6lb, 24w) 30
Total 273-8
49.3 overs

FoW: 25-1 (A. Ali, 7.1); 39-2 (Langley, 10.4); 206-3 (R. Viney, 39.1); 210-4 (Liyanapathiranage, 41.1); 226-5 (John, 43.6); 227-6 (Jackson, 44.3); 234-7 (Helm, 45.3); 258-8 (A. Viney, 48.2)

K. Braid-Ball 9-1-48-2 (3w)
C. Price 7.3-0-47-1 (8w)
G. Humphries 10-0-46-1 (3w)
J. Parish 7-0-32-0 (3w)
N. Jayasena 10-0-59-4 (2w)
L. Gough 6-0-35-0 (5w)

Amersham win by 2 wickets.

Buckingham – 9 points
Amersham – 20 points