JERSEY captain Chuggy Perchard will be delighted with his sides efforts today, as spin duo Josh Lawrenson and Nick Greenwood ran through the Kenyan batting line up to set up a resounding 7 wicket victory, thanks to an excellent unbeaten 100 partnership by Zak Tribe and Jonty Jenner.
Jersey currently sit comfortably atop of Group A in the Challenge League A with five wins from six games, including round one of fixtures last year in Nairobi, Kenya.
Kenya, who hosted the first round of the Challenge League A group stage last year, handed Jersey a commanding defeat in their meeting last September, both teams’ first game of this Challenge League cycle.
Since then however, Jersey have been flawless through the group stage of this qualification period for the ultimate prize of a spot at the 2027 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup.
On a sunny day at a splendid looking Farmers Field, skipper Perchard won the toss on his home ground and elected to bowl first. The canny medium pacer had the ball on a string, picking up both openers after the pace duo of Julius Sumerauer and George Richardson were economical early on.
Kenya found themselves 40-3 when Richardson claimed his first, but the introduction of spin-twins Josh Lawrenson and Nick Greenwood would wreak havoc on the Kenyan batting line up.
A steady fight back for the visitors came through Sachin Bhudia and Rakep Patel, who dominated Jersey in last year’s win in Nairobi with 6 wickets and an unbeaten 84 with the bat.
The Farmers track was offering some prodigious turn however, which both off-spinners took full advantage of. Bhudia would fall for 30, smartly caught and bowled by Lawrenson, then the key wicket of Patel went for 34, caught again by Lawrenson, this time off the bowling of Greenwood.
The pair bowled in partnership to share 7 wickets between them, Lawrenson finishing with 4 wickets for 25 runs and Greenwood with 3 for 20 as Kenya collapsed from 84-3 to just 115 all out inside 37 overs.
Despite leaving the field on a high, the Jersey reply got off to a calamitous start. Greenwood failed to back up his success with the ball as he found his stumps disturbed very first ball, Jersey losing their opener from just the third ball of the innings.
Lawrenson would also follow for 0 just two overs later, shouldering arms to an excellent nip-backer from the impressive Nelson Odhiambo as the hosts suddenly found themselves 6-2 early on.
That swiftly became 16-3 when Harrison Carlyon chipped an innocuous flick to mid-on, Jersey’s top 3 all back in the hutch and contributing just 6 runs between them.
Requiring a steady head, Zak Tribe was joined by the experienced Jonty Jenner in the middle and the pair set about rebuilding the innings, running particularly well and showing the Kenyan’s the advantage of aggressive pressure between the wickets.
The pair saw off the early danger and, despite the wicket continuing to offer spin, expertly maneuvered the ball around Farmers Field to move the score along at a comfortable rate.
As Kenyan heads dipped, Jenner cut loose with just 20 required for victory, smashing three consecutive boundaries to reach his half century from just 48 deliveries.
Jenner would hit the winning runs the following over to finish unbeaten on 56, with Tribe unbeaten on 45 at the other end in a match-winning partnership of 100.
Jersey secured their 7 wicket victory in just 23.3 overs, giving them a healthy boost to their net run rate and sending a stern statement to the rest of the division.
Chuggy Perchard and his squad are next back in action on Saturday, also at Farmers Field, where they are scheduled to take on Kuwait at 11am.
Jersey squad: Charles Perchard (c), Dom Blampied, Charlie Brennan, Harrison Carlyon, Jake Dunford, Patrick Gouge, Nick Greenwood, Jonty Jenner, Josh Lawrenson, Will Perchard, George Richardson, Julius Sumerauer, Asa Tribe, Zak Tribe
Click the link below to access the full scorecard.
https://www.icc-cricket.com/matches/264427/kenya-vs-jersey
