Reynoldson excels as Bedfordshire settle for a draw

Having recovered from difficult positions in each of their innings and with three bowlers struggling with injuries, Beds were in no mood to set a realistic target and Suffolk found themselves needing 294 to win in around 30 overs.

Hardly surprisingly they finished well short on 145-5.

The hosts man of the match was skipper Andy Reynoldson who batted for 442 minutes in the whole match and also bowled 45 overs.

The fireworks though came from Shabbz Hussain who, batting at number 11, cracked 50 from 50 balls in the first innings and 26 from 26 in the second. Bedfordshire were still 18 runs short of a batting point when Hussain walked out to join Reynoldson in the first innings, but the last pair though added 91 with Reynoldson finishing unbeaten on 90.

Reynoldson and fellow spinner Jon Carpenter then had to bear the brunt of the bowling after George Bacon (toe), Alex King (knee) and Hussain (dislocated finger) all suffered injuries.

Reynoldson had figures of 4-33 at one stage, but a fifth wicket partnership of 152 between Mark Comber who blasted 103 and Tom Rash (51 not out) saw Suffolk to three batting points on 305-5.

Beds lost two quick wickets in their second innings before Luke Thomas (53) and George Thurstance (35) put together a good stand and both must have been aggrieved to lose their wicket in light which the umpires somehow deemed good enough to allow play to continue.

Suffolk, then, were very much in the driving seat at the start of the third day, but Reynoldson survived a simple slip catch offered in the first over and the Bedfordshire fightback began.

Martin Weightman (37) helped him add 70 and even when Reynoldson eventually fell for 53, Carpenter batted beautifully to steer Bedfordshire out of trouble.

Useful runs came from Bacon (28) and Hussain and Carpenter was unbeaten on 60 when the Bedfordshire innings closed on 351.

Bedfordshire’s next championship match is not until July 6 when they travel to Cumberland.