Josh Digby takes seven wickets as Bashley (Rydal) beat Burridge
SPL Premier Division
Burridge CC 204
Bashley (Rydal) CC 208-3
BASHLEY (Rydal) captain Josh Digby delivered a bowling masterclass, taking seven wickets to lead his side to a seven-wicket win against Burridge at Bashley Cricket Ground.
The hosts needed Digby's spectacular display – which came at the cost of just 21 runs – after the visitors posted a decent tally of 204.
Burridge made a fantastic start to their innings after being asked to bat, with openers Azimunnoor Chowdhury (45) and Jack Paskins (34) sharing a 72-run opening stand. However, once Jacob Gordon caught Chowdhury off Digby, the in-form bowler had the following three batters, Chris Blake (7), Paskins (34) and Nathan Schoultz (7), all caught to leave Burridge at 96-4.
Burridge managed to stem the bleeding with a steady display from the middle order of Rohit Choudhary (21), Joe Collings-Wells (34) and Daniel Stancliffe (27), but once they fell, the final three wickets fell for 20 runs to leave Bashley chasing 204.
Besides former-Arnewood pupil Digby, Bashley's the other wicket-takers were Jacob Gordon (2-47) and Dan Goodey (1-63).
After the game, Digby said: "I was unwell and contemplated not playing, but as captain, I wanted to be there leading from the front."
His bowling figures are the best top-flight haul since Lymington's Matt Metcalfe tore through the Havant order to record 8-23 in June 2015 – the day when Havant were routed for just 50.
He added: "Some days are your days, and you've got to cash in when they are, and mine was Saturday with the ball."
Burridge made an early breakthrough when Sullivan White (2-22) had Ben Francis caught by Schoultz to make it 14-1. Then, however, Will Tripcony (60) and Jacob Gordon put together a 78-run second-wicket partnership before Gordon fell one run short of his half-century to wrestle back control.
Tripcony returned to the pavilion 38 runs later when Chris Blake (1-40) took his wicket, but he would be the last Burridge bowler to celebrate.
With the hosts at 130-3, former captain Michael Porter and the aggressive Tom Friend kept the scoreboard steadily ticking. Together, the duo added 78 runs to overtake Burridge, with Friend smashing an undefeated 55 runs off just 35 balls while Porter steadily marched to 30 not out.
The win came as welcome relief to Bashley, who moved up to fifth with their second league win. They will hope to take back-to-back victories when they take on St Cross Symondians away from home on Saturday at 11am in a timed game.
