Fords focus in on beating thirds

Ford captain, Naveed Sharif, won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first at May & Bakers Annex Ground on Saturday afternoon. Openers Sikander Bokhari (26) and Vaseem Khan (24) gave their side an early fillip with an opening stand of 54 but the introduction of Paul Atkins and skipper Joe Barwick lifted the home side as the pair bagged 3 scalps apiece with the ball. Rameez Saeed (43) and a destructive 40 from ‘keeper Aman Singh put the motormen in the ascendancy but father and son Ricky and Daniel Parnell each claimed two wickets to offer Goresbrook hope as Ford closed on 251 all out.

After tea, ‘Brook were two down early doors when Aaron Scott joined Atif Ali out in the middle. The pair settled their sides’ nerves of with a compelling 3rd wicket partnership of 78 before Atif Ali was caught behind off the bowling of Sharif. Left hander Ali breached the rope 8 times before departing for a classy personal best tally of 77. Scott marked his 16th birthday celebrations having also compiled a senior best total of 36. A combination of some chancy running which yielded 3 run outs and the return of pacemen Salim Sharif (3 for 16) arrested Goresbrook’s run chase but the Dagenham outfit accumulated a maximum 10 bonus points when reaching 206 all out handing the visitors victory by a margin of 45 runs