Barking Victorious in Local Derby

Home captain, Kane Messenger, won the toss and invited Barking to bat first in this local derby derby at M & B Sports Ground on Saturday. The hosts attack were quickly in the ascendancy courtesy of a four wicket burst from Daryl Forward. Harris Khan (25) dug in as the visitors slumped to 101 for 8. Vijayaratnam Mahal (2 for 16) and Livash Ramduth (2 for 25) added to Barking’s woes before a disciplined late order steered the men from the west of the borough back into the match. Muhammad Attuallah returned to bag his second scalp but Saeed Rauf (20) and Abdul Rehman Razzaq (12) hung in to support star man Farhan Ejaz. The Number nine compiled a telling, unbeaten 37, from 59 balls, to throw the visitors a lifeline as they recovered to post a respectable 179 on a track which offered assistance to the bowlers
After tea, Rauf removed talisman Juber Rukon for a duck with his third delivery. ‘Brook’s misery continued as Jordan Calverley (19), Lee Jones (15) and gloveman Jordan Harris (19) all made double figures without going on to record big scores. Rauf claimed two further victims with the ball and produced a sharp run out to decimate the host’s middle order as Goresbrook were reeling at 74 for 6. Goresbrook’s Ted Ivory, who celebrated his 18th birthday on Thursday, batted with maturity forming a platform for a late assault and in tandem with the hard hitting Vijayaratnam (34) their 45 run partnership for the 7th wicket set up an exciting finale. The latter holed out on the boundary to Omar Khan from the bowling of Bilal Shah and Forward (0) repeated the feat two balls later. When Rauf cleaned up Ramduth without further troubling the scorer, Ivory was left high and dry on 23 not out as the visitors emerged victors by 47 runs.
Barking and Goresbrook remain in third and fourth place, respectively, in a Division of twenty clubs. Both clubs ensured a top 10 finish and will form part of Division 3 of the Hamro Foundation Essex Cricket League for 2023.

Barking 1st 179 all out in 48.5 Overs (20 points) beat Goresbrook 1st 132 all out in 40.1 Overs (5 points) by 47 Runs.