Jayamanne hits 90 as Ifield fall to eight-wicket defeat at Bognor

Ifield won the toss and opted to bat first but the early losses of Wragg, Patel and Morris left Ifield at 36-3 and the decision to bat wasn’t looking so great.

Jayamanne and Groves steadied the ship and gradually the innings was back on track and an excellent partnership of 116 runs took Ifield to 152 before the 4th wicket fell when Groves was bowled by Sargeant for a patient 52.

Jayamanne, still nursing a broken finger from three weeks ago went on to make 90 before he holed out in the deep but other than Dan Groves (13) no other batsmen were able to make double figures and after all the hard work by Jayamanne and Groves the innings subsided to a disappointing 197 all out.

The Bognor response started poorly when opener Jaycocks was LBW to Jack Groves without scoring but Bognor captain Maskell and Ashmore took the score to 78 before the second wicket fell when Maskell was LBW to Jayamanne for 33.

Bognor’s overseas player Roy Kaia joined Ashmore and they were untroubled as they comfortably chased down the victory target with wickets and overs in hand.

Despite the result this was an improved performance in the field by Ifield over previous games but ultimately, Jayamanne and Groves aside, the batsmen need to make much greater contributions in the weeks ahead.

Ifield host Haywards Heath at Ifield Green in their next game.