Jersey Beat Kenya by 123 Runs — Benjamin Ward's 5 for 28 Follows a 133-Run Stand Between Asa and Zak Tribe

Three days after Zak Tribe's 150 had set up a 172-run win over Papua New Guinea on this ground, Jersey chose to bat again at the Gymkhana Club Ground and built another big total, though this one was assembled differently. Harrison Carlyon's 50 off 43 balls and Josh Lawrenson's 37 off 31 brought 86 for the first wicket inside 12 overs; then Asa Tribe (72) and Zak Tribe (65) added 133 for the third wicket at a steadier pace. Kenya took six wickets in the last nine overs to hold Jersey to 320 for 9.

Kenya's reply had a bright beginning. Dhiren Gondaria struck three sixes in 55 off 41 balls, and at 62 for 1 after 11 overs the chase was alive. It died in the next nine. Toby Britton bowled Gondaria, and Benjamin Ward took two of the next three wickets to leave Kenya 91 for 5. Sachin Gill's 60 and Sukhdeep Singh's 31 added 61 for the sixth wicket, but Ward came back to finish with 5 for 28 as Kenya were bowled out for 197 in 42 overs. Jersey won by 123 runs.

Carlyon set the tempo with seven fours and two sixes in his 50 off 43 before Francis Mutua bowled him in the 12th over with 86 on the board. Mutua bowled Lawrenson two overs later, and at 97 for 2 Kenya had a foothold. Asa Tribe and Zak Tribe took it away from them over the next 22 overs. Asa's 72 came off 86 balls with six fours, an innings of placement rather than power; Zak's 65 off 67 had five fours and two sixes. Their 133 took Jersey from 97 in the 14th over to 230 in the 36th, and the platform was there for another late surge.

The surge never quite came. Zak Tribe was caught by Vraj Patel off Shem Ngoche at 230, Jonty Jenner made 25 before Vraj Patel had him caught, and Sachin Gill then took three wickets in the closing overs: Asa Tribe lbw at 267, Charlie Brennan bowled, Jake Dunford bowled. From 265 for 3 in the 42nd over, Jersey lost 6 for 55. Ward's 19 off 17 was the innings that carried them past 300, and Kenya's 23 extras helped too. Still, 320 for 9 on a ground where Jersey know the dimensions well was a strong total.

The bowling followed the pattern of the Papua New Guinea match. Julius Sumerauer had Subham Patel caught behind by Dunford at 25, Britton bowled Gondaria at 62, and then Ward took over: Rakep Patel caught behind at 73, Sachin Bhudia bowled at 91, and later Mutua bowled, Ngoche and Peter Langat both caught by Asa Tribe. Nine overs, two maidens, 28 runs, five wickets. Lawrenson had Irfan Karim caught behind, Zak Tribe took the two batters who had rebuilt, and Asa Tribe held three catches to go with his 72. Dunford took three behind the stumps.

Gondaria's innings was the counter-attack a chase of 321 required: 55 off 41 balls with six fours and three sixes, scored at better than a run a ball while the batters around him were finding it hard. Once Britton bowled him in the 11th over, the middle order could not hold. Rakep Patel made 7 off 6, Karim 11 off 31, Bhudia 8 off 17, and Kenya were 91 for 5 in the 20th over. Gill, who had earlier taken 3 for 54, then played the day's most responsible innings, 60 off 61 balls with four fours and two sixes, and Sukhdeep Singh's 31 off 43 kept him company in a stand of 61. When Sukhdeep was caught by Brennan off Zak Tribe at 152, the last four wickets went for 45, and the last three for 13.

With the ball Kenya did some things well. Ngoche's ten overs cost 40 and Vraj Patel's cost 52, each taking a wicket, and Mutua's two quick wickets in the 12th and 14th overs gave the attack its opening. Gill's three late wickets meant Jersey lost nine and were held under the total they had made here on October 22. The cost came in the middle, where the two Tribes were allowed 133 at a time when Kenya needed a third wicket, and at the start, where Langat's nine overs went for 74 with six wides. Kenya took nine wickets and conceded 320; the batting, not the bowling, lost this match.

After 11 overs Kenya were 62 for 1 and Gondaria had made 55 of them. Jersey had not lost their first wicket until 86 in the 12th over, so Kenya were behind the game but not out of it. Then Britton bowled Gondaria with the last ball of the 11th over, and within nine overs the match had changed shape: Ward had Rakep Patel caught behind at 73 in the 14th, Lawrenson had Karim caught behind at 79 in the 17th, and Ward bowled Bhudia at 91 in the 20th. Four wickets for 29 runs in 8.4 overs. The 61-run stand that followed between Gill and Sukhdeep was recovery rather than pursuit; the required rate had gone past seven and a half an over with half the side gone, and a chase of 321 does not survive that. A chase is a rope bridge, and every wicket in that spell cut a strand.

On October 22 Ward took 5 for 49 against Papua New Guinea at this ground. Three days later he took 5 for 28 in nine overs, two of them maidens, against Kenya. Two of the five were bowled, one was caught behind, and two were held by Asa Tribe. His first two wickets came in the spell that broke the chase, and his last three closed it out. He also made 19 off 17 balls at No. 8, coming in at 282 for 6 when Jersey were in danger of finishing short of 300. Two five-wicket hauls in four days at the same ground is the kind of thing that gets a bowler's name remembered by the sides he plays next.

This match didn't have a CricIntel preview — we'll have full analysis for the next encounter.

Jersey have now won twice batting first at the Gymkhana Club Ground in the space of four days, with different batters doing the heavy lifting each time; Asa Tribe's 72 came alongside three catches in the field. The one thing to tidy is the finish: 6 for 55 at the end here, after Kenya's spinners and Gill found their lengths. Ward's form with the ball is the clearest asset in the group. For Kenya, Gondaria's hitting and Gill's all-round day (3 for 54 and 60) were the positives, and the stretch between 62 for 1 and 91 for 5 is where their next match will be won or lost.