New signings shone for Buckingham Town as they started their 2022 campaign with a win!
Report by Andrew Holland
Buckingham began their 2022 season with a visit to Dunstable for a pre-season friendly, and batted first against the hosts with six new names in the team. Two of those, Jake Tarling and Hashan Ramanadanpulle, opened the batting and made a strong start, scoring fluently and aided by plenty of wides. The pair put on 94 at over seven an over before Ramanadanpulle was dismissed by Matt Woodcock for 35. Tarling brought up a run-a-ball half century with a straight six, and retired, which brought Michael Wells to the crease. After an early drop, Wells looked in good touch. He lost Ewan Cox for 19, but dominated the scoring after that, reaching his own half-century from just 36 deliveries. When he retired (56 not out) the score was 194 for 2 with 19 overs to go. The scoring rate slowed for a period, with Leigh Tomlinson (9) and Sikandar Rizwan (23) facing accurate spin bowling from Jack Kilduff in particular. Heading into the final ten overs Harvey Eltham and Abdul Qader began to up the rate. Eltham fell for 24 but Qader batted to the end, reaching his half-century off the final ball as he made an unbeaten 53 from 28 balls with five sixes, Buckingham finishing their 50 overs on 320 for 5.
Dunstable’s reply started badly as Harry McBrearty was bowled around his legs leaving a ball from Qader in the first over before Woodcock fell to Cox in the second to leave them 4 for 2. Terry Carr and Rowan Bascetta-Pollitt saw off the opening bowlers, but George Humphries came on and took two wickets in three overs before Bascetta-Pollitt was run out for 19 as the hosts slipped to 54 for 5. Harry Griffin and Kilduff gave the innings some respectability as they played themselves in and then increased the scoring against the spinners. Although never threatening the target, they took the score past 100 with a partnership of 58, forcing Buckingham to bring Qader back into the attack. He broke the stand in his first over as he removed Kilduff for 21. Rizwan came on and bowled Griffin for 37 in his first over before both bowlers took a further wicket as Dunstable were bowled out for 123.
Buckingham
J. Tarling Retired Not Out 50 (50)
H. Ramanadanpulle c Bascetta-Pollitt b Woodcock 35 (44)
E. Cox c Simpkins b Lewis 19 (42)
M. Wells Retired Not Out 56 (37)
L. Tomlinson*+ Run Out (Strong) 9 (23)
S. Rizwan c Thorne b Simpkins 23 (43)
H. Eltham b McBrearty 24 (33)
A. Qader Not Out 53 (28)
G. Humphries Not Out 1 (1)
Extras (3b, 45w, 2nb) 50
Total 320-5
50 overs
FoW: 94-1 (Ramanadanpulle, 13.1); 119-1 (Tarling Ret., 17.4); 163-2 (Cox, 26.5); 194-2 (Wells Ret., 30.6); 202-3 (Tomlinson, 35.3); 237-4 (Rizwan, 42.5); 295-5 (Eltham, 47.5)
A. Baldwin 8-0-38-0 (1w)
J. Thorne 3-0-32-0 (8w)
M. Woodcock 5-0-28-1 (2w)
H. McBrearty 9-1-64-1 (15w, 2nb)
J. Kilduff 10-1-41-0
A. Lewis 7-0-42-1 (1w)
H. Griffin 4-0-30-0 (4w)
R. Simpkins 4-0-42-1
Dunstable
M. Woodcock c Tarling b Cox 1 (9)
H. McBrearty b Qader 0 (2)
T. Carr c Tarling b Humphries 10 (32)
R. Bascetta-Pollitt+ Run Out (Wells/Tomlinson) 19 (39)
J. Strong c Tarling b Humphries 0 (10)
H. Griffin b Rizwan 37 (67)
J. Kilduff c Clark b Qader 21 (44)
J. Thorne c Clark b Qader 0 (11)
A. Lewis b Rizwan 8 (7)
R. Simpkins* Not Out 0 (2)
A. Baldwin Absent 0 (0)
Extras (10b, 12w, 5nb) 27
Total 123 all out
36.1 overs
FoW: 3-1 (McBrearty, 0.6); 4-2 (Woodcock, 1.4); 35-3 (Carr, 8.6); 48-4 (Strong, 12.3); 54-5 (Bascetta-Pollitt, 15.4); 112-6 (Kilduff, 30.6); 115-7 (Griffin, 33.3); 123-8 (Lewis, 35.4); 123-9 (Thorne, 36.1)
A. Qader 7.1-1-22-3 (5nb, 1w)
E. Cox 3-0-14-1 (4w)
A. Marston 7-1-17-0 (1w)
G. Humphries 6-1-11-2 (1w)
J. Clark 5-1-18-0
H. Eltham 6-0-22-0
S. Rizwan 2-0-9-2 (1w)
Buckingham win by 197 runs.
