Faulkner swings Ickwell to win

Ben Faulkner set Ickwell on the way to victory over Godmanchester IIs in the Hunts League on Saturday.
Ickwell v Godmanchester. Picture: David Kay. PNL-170816-095700002Ickwell v Godmanchester. Picture: David Kay. PNL-170816-095700002
Ickwell v Godmanchester. Picture: David Kay. PNL-170816-095700002

The travelling side won the toss and chose to bat, a decision that backfired as early on the Ickwell bowlers dominated the opposing batsmen on a slow and low pitch, writes Tom Winetroube.

They struggled to find the breakthrough though until Ben Faulkner was brought into the attack.

The right arm medium pacer swung the ball and got his second four-fer of the season. He was ably backed up by George Swallow, who gave away just 23 runs in his 10 over spell.

Ickwell required only 167. The chase got off to a ropey start as Ickwell found themselves 12-2 and then 39-3, however Harry Young batted superbly to guide his team out of what looked like a pretty desolate situation and to their seventh win with a sensibly stylish unbeaten 83. Faulkner rounded off his day by scoring the winning runs.

Ickwell II went down to a heavy ten wicket defeat at fourth placed Ketton IIs.

Ickwell fell narrowly short to Great Brickhill in the Beds County League on Sunday, writes Chris Deverell.

Brickhill were soon in trouble batting first as Ross Fensome (3-39) took the first three wickets. However a fourth wicket stand of 122 between Nimesh Chavda (60) and George Morris (51) ensured they posted 272-8.

Fensome (65) led the Ickwell reply and he was eventually stumped with the score on 142-3. Harry Fallows (76) took on responsibility to kep the score moving but when he was out the side still needed 65 more runs from just over seven overs with two wickets left. Faulkner (20 not out) and George Swallow (22) helped keep the game alive but Ickwell fell 15 runs short.

On The Green on Sunday Eversholt IIs made an excellent start against Ickwell IIs, reaching 156-2, but Ewan Wilkinson (3-26), Darren De-Vyott (3-30) and Tom Jackson (3-41) saw them dismissed for 216.

Ben Fensome (37) and Shiva Songara (60) got the innings underway with an opening stand of 65. Unfortunately no other batsmen got established to push the score along and eventually Ickwell were dismissed for 182 to lose by 34 runs.