BERKSHIRE SEEK FIRST POINTS
BERKSHIRE will be looking to put their first points on the board in the NCCA T20 competition over May Bank Holiday.
They travel down the M4 to Newport to face Wales National Counties on Sunday and then take on Buckinghamshire at Wargrave next Monday.
Berks lost both of their opening Group four matches to Oxfordshire, but were a shade unfortunate in the second.
Put in to bat, Berkshire were soon in trouble, losing half their side for 66 following some sensational catching by the Oxon fielders.
There was a slight improvement from the middle order with Andy Rishton making 40, Josh Lincoln 28 and debutant Jafer Chohan 12, but their total of 143-9 was never going to be enough as the wicket became easier to bat on.
Of the seven bowlers used by Berkshire, Rhodri Lewis took 2-24 off three overs and Luke Beaven 2-28 after four.
Both the spinners also shared four wickets in the second match but were unable to put the brake on Ward who took just 12 overs to bring up his century.
He was eventually stumped by Dan Lincoln off the Lewis for 130, being the fourth man out with the total on 173 in the 16th over.
Wales’ squad included their new player and assistant coach Greg Smith, the former Derbyshire and Essex all-rounder.
Like Berks, Buckinghamshire lost both of their first two games, going down to Bedfordshire at Dunstable by eight wickets and then seven wickets.
In the second game, Ed Bragg, hit 56 not out from 25 balls while Alexei Kervezee, the former Worcestershire and Netherlands batsman, made 43 in the Bucks total of 171-6.
Berkshire will not confirm their side until later this week, but Euan Woods is hoping to play after missing the Oxon games due to a hamstring problem.
A week after completing a double over Shropshire, Berkshire Women losttwice to Worcestershire in the ECB County T20 competition at Bromsgrove last Sunday.
Setting a target of 150, they lost the first game by 47 runs with Mia Rogers being run out for 49, while. In the second game, they needed 166 to win, but were restricted to 124-6 with skipper Ashleigh Muttitt topscoring on 42.