Bessborough won their first competitive fixture of the 2016 campaign at the second time of asking as they comfortably beat Harrow Town in the first round of the Middlesex County Knockout Cup on Sunday.

Bessborough restricted their hosts to 164 for eight in their 45 overs with Ian Barrie (four for 21) and Thanuka Jayawardena (two for 42) the pick of the bowlers.

Opener Adil Parker was the hero for the team with the bat as he scored a cool 54 as Bessborough chased down the total in not much more than 25 overs.

Rishi Patel (22), Sanil Shah (27) and Tharshan Kanagaraj (17 not out) also chipped in with useful contributions for the victors.

The reward for victory is an away tie at Acton CC in the second round of the competition on Sunday, May 15.

Runs were at a premium on Saturday as Bessborough took on Harrow in two mixed-side friendlies, winning one and losing one.

The “first” team were beaten by one wicket in the away game as Harrow’s number 11 Nouman Yadgari took a leaf out of Carlos Brathwaite’s book by smashing two sixes off the first two balls in the final over with his side requiring 11 runs to win.

The team’s batting was held together by three innings of substance as the side collapsed from 72 for two to 116 all out.

Ian Barrie (44), Ishan Shah (25) and Kibreeth Rameez (26) were the only batsmen to get into double figures.

On the bowling front Thanuka Jayawardena was the stand-out performer with three for 30, while Stephen Kimsey (two for 21) and Gihan Pallage (two for 16) will also be glad to have got more overs under their belts.

The nominal second eleven mostly contained players from the fourth team with third-team skipper Ian Ridley in charge.

On an extremely damp top pitch at Headstone Manor, where boundaries were a very rare commodity, Harrow were bowled out for 96 in 39 overs.

New 17-year-old seamer Thanushan Sundarlingam demonstrated his potential with three for 14, while Prashant Dhayal (two for 16) and Bharat Vyas (three for seven) were all on top form.

Bessborough’s response got off to a slow start after the loss of some early wickets but number four batsman Harris Malik guided his side back into contention with a well-crafted 29 which was a valuable contribution.

Unbeaten knocks of 15 from both Ridley and Dhayal got the side over the line by three wickets.

Next week will see all four sides start their league campaigns.