Camden I v Barrington

09/08/25

HUGO BOSSES BARRINGTON

Promotion destiny in own hands as Thirds get back to winning ways

Camden (20pts) 243-7 beat Barrington (7pts) 175 by 68 runs

After the trauma of Trinity Hall, it was back to home comforts as Barrington rocked up to Queens’. The Big One. Second versus third in Junior 3 West. With Captain Redfern still away, Sutton might have considered bowling first. After all, six of this year’s eight wins had come batting second. But it was a bat-first-get-millions kind of a day, so we’d get to see how much batting confidence had been drained by last week’s shellacking. At 21-2, with veteran openers Coe (10) and Sutton (7) both caught behind, it wasn’t the most convincing start. But Batley and Ketul soon started tucking in to the change bowlers, and the score had swelled to a healthy 110-2 at drinks. For Ketul, it was a third fifty of a productive season and, with half the innings remaining, a century didn’t look out of the question. It might have been the answer, had he seen off Nelson and the popular Barrington skipper. It wasn’t to be, however – Ketul (55) was bowled, and when Irtaza followed next ball, the innings was in the balance at 111-4.

Batley reached 50 and, with Farid, took the score to 149-4. Cue another collapse, with the wicket of Farid (17) quickly followed by Subbu and debutant Shuja Malik (cap number 179). That made it three golden ducks in the innings, and it looked as though the Thirds had thrown away a chance to post a big score. Given the jeopardy, what followed from Hugo and Karan was astonishing. Hugo had taken 75 balls to reach his half century, and the effort appeared to have taken something out of the Batman. Cramping like Glenn Maxwell in the 2023 World Cup, our hero proceeded to peel off another 54 runs from just 28 balls – getting to his century in the final over, and ending up unbeaten on 104. It was a terrific knock, and a thoroughly deserved first century for the Thirds. Karan – with 36 not out from 29 balls – proved the perfect sidekick, and the pair added an unbeaten 93 (a record for the eighth wicket) in just 57 balls. All of which meant that the Thirds finished up with the imposing total of 243-7.

As an opening batsman, Sutton will be familiar with the journey from personal despair to taking delight in the successes of a teammate. Out early on in a run chase, that can be a long journey. Here, having dropped a straightforward chance at long off, Sutton only had to wait one ball – Subbu (1-33) pulling off a caught and bowled that would rank highly on the Vishometer. Sutton’s drop could still prove costly, however, as the beneficiary was his opposite number. The popular Barrington skipper had won the reverse fixture with a brutal 79 and had already shown his intentions here by hitting Farid (0-26) for one of the biggest sixes your correspondent has ever seen.

With Karan (0-27) and Mukesh on to bowl and Irtaza replacing Subrata behind the stumps, the score had reached 73-1 after fifteen overs. Camden had been 73-2 at the same stage, so the game was very much on. One ball later, it was all going off – Mukesh bowling the popular Barrington skipper for 33. Thereafter, despite a classy 70 from the visitors’ number three, there was only one winner. Mukesh (2-44) struck again, before Ketul took over. 4-20 (all bowled) to go with his earlier 55. Subrata (2-13) bowled terrifically, and victory was sealed with an Irtaza stumping off Shuja (1-11).

On the face of it, a 68-run margin of victory looks pretty emphatic, but the Camden boys would have known they had been in a game. “As satisfying a win as I can remember,” said Sutton, for whom it was a first as captain.

Man of the Match: Hugo Batley