MIDDLESEX COUNTY CRICKET LEAGUE DIVISION TWO

Shepherd’s Bush 169 all out

Ickenham 171-8

Ickenham won by two wickets

ICKENHAM gave their survival hopes a shot in the arm with a shock victory over Shepherd’s Bush on Saturday.

Division Two’s bottom club had not won a game heading into this one, but finally picked up 10 points with an unexpected two-wicket win over third-placed Bush to move within four points of Harrow Town.

The Ickenham players must have sensed their luck was changing when they won the toss and elected to bowl in front of the home crowd.

Steve Gibson ran the show with the ball and bagged himself a fifer as all but Aaron Johnson (74) and Dominic Harris (45) failed to make an impression.

Gibson’s five, two each from Dylan Goldstone and Paul Sims and one from Matt Saunders saw Bush sent packing with 169 runs on the scoreboard.

It was a beatable target, however the unrelenting heat at Oak Avenue meant things would be far from straightforward for the hosts.

Charith Gunasekara (50) led the way from the start and formed a decent partnership with Ross Berti (17) to build some momentum for Ickenham.

Richard Crompton and Goldstone then went for nought to give the home side a slight scare before George Bensted (23), Gibson (19 not out) and Andy Marshall (17 not out) helped get them home.

Meanwhile, Uxbridge, who are third-from-bottom in Division Two, piled the pressure on Harrow Town with a 161-run triumph at the weekend.

Eastcote slipped to a seven-wicket loss at Stanmore in the Premier Division.