Blunham openers lead way in Premier runfest

More than 550 runs were scored with Blunham beating Ampthill Town by 45 runs.

The tone was set straight from the off as Blunham openers Shabz Hussain and Michael Pickard went all out against the Town bowlers. Hussain made 80 off 56 balls, including two sixes, while Pickard scored 67 off 47 balls.

David Garofalo (31) and Adam Grimes (38) added crucial runs further down the order as Blunham posted a challenging score of 304-9.

In reply Ampthill couldn’t keep up with the pace as wickets fell at regular intervals, with three wickets for Deryn Fowler and two apiece for Michael Winfield and Wayne Goldsmith.

Dean Bryce smashed an unbeaten 78 further down the order for Ampthill but it was too little, too late and they were dismissed for 259.

Langford remain the team to beat in Division One and they are top of the pile after a comfortable victory at home to Dunstable Town seconds.

The visitors opted to bat first but Don Ramesh George Subasinghe ripped through the top order, taking four wickets as Dunstable were pegged back to 14-5.

From this position they did recover to a degree to record a total of 115 all out.

This target proved a walk in the park for Langford. Jordan Cleghorn made 62 as the openers put on 82, and they passed Dunstable’s total with eight wickets in just 13 overs.

Sean Stevens smashed a century for Potton Town as they saw off Biggleswade Town in Division One. His score, supported by 60 from Dan Hall, enabled Potton to make 267-5 at The Hollow.

Kevin Wright got the Biggleswade innings off to a fine start with 66. Adam Dagless weighed in with 70 but aside from 25 from Matthew Twigg, the rest of the innings crumbled and the visitors were bowled out 57 runs short.

Ickwell seconds’ game at Luton is probably best forgotten. Luton Town & Indians thirds batted first and made 149. But then Ickwell slumped to 28-9. Chris Rix (22 not out) did his best to make the score a little more respectable but Ickwell lost by 94 runs.