EMMBROOK and Bearwood suffered the narrowest of defeats as they were cruelly beaten by one run.
Bradenham were put into bat first by Emmbrook and Bearwood who won the toss. The hosts made a promising start to their innings as the opening pair built a stable runs partnership to frustrate the early Emmbrook bowling attack.
Opening batsman Paul Huntley was quick to total 48 runs, knocking six fours and three sixes, before being bowled out by Balakrishnan with the score at 60-1.
Callum Farrar-Hockley only managed to add one run to the total before being dismissed by Emmbrook captain Alex Cobb who claimed his first wicket of the innings with Bradenham on 72-2. Emmbrook then quickly followed up with a third wicket as Owen Murphy was removed for just four runs.
The middle order of the Bradenham innings were reduced efficiently thanks to some excellent bowling and fielding from Emmbrook as Prathamesh contributed with two more wickets to take his match tally to three.
Sid Chignall was caught and bowled brilliantly by Prasad Mhatre and with the score at 129-8, it looked as if Emmbrook would remove their opponents for a fairly modest total.
However, Bradenham fought back exceptionally to recover their innings and posted some vital extra runs on the board. Liam Davies hit five boundaries, proving to be crucial runs as he posted 29 not out at the end of the innings before Cobb claimed the last wicket to dismiss Bradenham all out for 180.
With 180 to catch, Emmbrook made a shaky start to their innings as Ollie Williams fell for just one run and was quickly followed by Jack Narraway (8) and Cobb (12).
But the middle order of Emmbrook’s batting lineup recovered their chase valiantly as Sandeep Nair scored 24 and Imran Khan contributed 27 runs towards the total. Prathamesh continued on from his fine bowling form to bat a solid innings for his side as he top scored with 40 runs to put Emmbrook into a strong position in the match.
Emmbrook struggled towards the target but looked set to get a result from the game after Balakrishnan had scored 10 runs and was partnered at the crease by Sukhi Singh. With the game hanging in the balance at 179-9, Emmbrook needed just one run to tie the match and two to take the victory, but agonisingly Bradenham secured the win as Singh was caught out to leave the visitors just one run short of their opponents total.
Emmbrook and Bearwood bowling: Balakrishnan 2-53, Cobb 3-48, Prathamesh 3-21, Williams 0-21, Mhatre 2-15, Singh 0-15.
Emmbrook and Bearwood batting: Cobb 12, Williams 1, Narraway 8, Nair 24, Prathamesh 40, Khan 27, Robertson 12, Shinde 2, Balakrishnan 10, Mhatre 11, Singh 3.
