BESSBOROUGH were unlucky not to claim their first victory of the season at home to Ickenham on Saturday but remain rooted to the bottom of MCCL Division three as a result.
The visitors were put into bat by Bessborough, who struggled to take wickets regularly enough as Ickenham posted a challenging total of 212 with three wickets in hand.
That total seemed within reach for the home side as they hit runs at a reasonable pace but they fell just six runs short in their 47 overs.
Wayne Whitson (53) and Botha (54) put together timely half centuries but were unable to build on their starts to put the match beyond reach.
The total of 206 for 9 did hand Bessborough four points however, which will give the side hope of staying in the league next season as it closed the gap on fellow strugglers Wycombe House to just four points.
The seconds suffered a similar fate as a strong batting performance earned them a winning draw.
Carr proved instrumental in helping Bessborough post a total of 226 for 9 and despite falling just short of a ton his 89 heaped pressure on the home side.
Old Actonians were unable to keep up with the run rate and batted defensively to hang on for a point - falling 80 runs short of the target.
The points mean Bessborough are just 14 points of second placed North Middlesex in a very tight league.
A hat-trick in the final three balls from Bessborough's Kushal Patel was the icing on the cake for the third XI as won at Brentham.
Bessborough did well with the bat and 64 from Shrikanathan set them up as they posted 238 for 9.
Brentham never looked like reaching the target but the game seemed destined for a draw as their innings entered the final three balls with Brentham on 214 for 7.
Up stepped Patel however who took wickets in each of the final balls to hand his side a totally unexpected 10 points.
It was Patel who caused the most damage as he took six wickets in total for a very economical 33 runs.
