Following last week’s impressive win against Waterbeach, the Cambourne Bombers were so eager to carry on the winning streak that they arrived at Comberton's ground before the home team. Having won the toss, Comberton chose to bat on what seemed, upon inspection, to be a lively dry wicket under scorching, humid and still conditions. The pitch proved to be lower and slower than was expected and Cambourne restricted the home team early on with some tight bowling from Nick Banning and Vasu Kumanduri. The conditions made fielding difficult and it soon became apparent that it would be a long day in the field. Banning finally broke the deadlock on the last ball of his excellent 10 overs, inviting an expansive drive which was plucked out of the air nonchalantly by Md. Anwar Shahadat. Paul Cooke, Mark Tandy and Shahadat followed this up with tidy spells which accounted for another 5 wickets, although 3 drops off Tandy could have been costly. Some big hitting and a gaggle of extras, brought on by lapses in concentration in the sweltering conditions, allowed Comberton to amass 183 for 8 off their 40 overs. Cambourne’s skipper, Tandy, kept the team’s spirits high at the break and stressed that the par score for the pitch would be 220 runs or more.

Cambourne’s reply was nothing short of emphatic. The opening pair of Marc Bender and Shahadat started at a good rate to each 21 off 5 overs before Bender chased a wide one and plopped a dolly to point. This brought Ed Garratt to the crease but his innings was short-lived as a mix up with the calling left him stranded before being run out. In stepped Kumanduri who set about the bowling as if he was having a practice session. This fired Shahadat into action who started depositing the ball to all corners of the ground with some graceful cricket shots. These two raced to their 100 partnership in double quick time and were a joy to watch, except for the opposition who started to look like a beaten team. Despite this, Comberton kept plugging away and eventually broke the partnership when Kumanduri was caught at point one short of his first half century for the Club. With Cambourne on 174 Ollie Vale showed great maturity for his age (14) to shore up one end while Man of the Match Shahadat played more blistering shots to reach 94 not out to seal the win, with Cambourne totalling 185 for 2 off only 28 overs.

This win keeps Cambourne at the top of the league with a 100% record so far.

Mark Tandy.

Bowling

1st XI