Match Preview: Bears looking to carry momentum after historic fourth day victory

Bears pulled off a miraculous run chase on Monday, starting the day on 12/0, with 96 overs to reach the 339 runs required to win.

joshstacey

2025-04-17T12:31:17.000Z

Bears pulled off a miraculous run chase on Monday, starting the day on 12/0, with 96 overs to reach the 339 runs required to win.

The challenge was even more difficult after the Bears slipped to 90/5 at lunch, only for the pair of Ed Barnard and Kai Smith to bat the entire afternoon session and put the Bears in a strong position.

Smith fell soon after the tea break, but Barnard fought on, bringing up his 10th First-Class century off 133 balls, a supreme knock under pressure.

However, Barnard fell the very next ball strangled down the legside, leaving it up to the lower-order to make the 54 needed to win.

After a nervy hour of cricket, Ethan Bamber finished the job by belting a six straight down the ground to secure victory by one wicket.

First Team Coach Ian Westwood said, “When you win those games, it feels amazing. It was really exciting, sparked great celebrations from us, and wins like that can do a lot for the group and the confidence.”

“It’s just the start, we’re not the finished article, we’ve got a lot of hard work to do. We still haven’t taken 20 wickets, so that's something we need to keep pushing towards.”

Match Preview: Bears looking to carry momentum after historic fourth day victory - Image 2

It was a particularly good match for the younger members of the Bears outfit, with Tazeem Ali claiming four wickets, Kai Smith scoring a brace of half-centuries, and Michael Booth taking seven wickets and scoring 98 runs in the game, including his maiden First-Class half-century.

Following their 21-point victory, the Bears are now joint top of Division One alongside newly promoted Sussex and this Easter Weekend’s opponents, Nottinghamshire.

Dillon Pennington and Conor McKerr are both sidelined due to injury, with Pennington suffering a side strain and McKerr pulling up in a second XI fixture this week.

Westwood reiterated his earlier point that there are no easy fixtures in Division One and that the Bears must bring their best against their Midland and table rivals.

“They’ve got a nice balance to their attack, some good batters, and they’ll be confident having won and drawn one, and made a solid start to the season.