Impressive knocks from youngsters Aum Raykar and Ryan Friend were not enough to earn victories in their National Counties T20 double-header against Berkshire Men at Chesham on Sunday.

The two results leave the NCCA T20 Group 3 wide open, with four teams tied on six points each.

Bucks elected to bowl in Game One at Chesham, and the visiting side started well, reaching 49 at the end of the powerplay.

Despite some tight bowling from spinners Teddy Fleming and Conner Haddow, Charlie Dunnett struck a powerful 40* from just 26 balls, taking his side to a strong total of 171.

Billy Dodds, making his Bucks Men’s debut, did not get the start he had hoped for, as he was run out for 8.

Raykar (57) and Friend (49) put together an impressive 96-run partnership in 10 overs, and Bucks were in control for a large portion of the run chase.

In the eleventh over, Friend sadly fell one short of his half-century as he was dismissed by Samm Daniel, sparking an unwanted collapse for the home side.

Five wickets in five overs saw Friend, Alexei Kervezee (3), George Harvey (0), Ross Richardson (1), and Ed Bragg (1) all dismissed, collapsing from 110/1 to 126/6.

Despite a late charge from Fleming, who hit 24 from 13 balls, a further three wickets in as many overs saw Bucks fall to a spirited six-run loss.

Berkshire then elected to bat in Game Two and wasted no time scoring early runs, reaching 26/0 in the opening overs from Bragg and Archie Dodds.

Bragg bounced back in his second over, bowling Johnny Connell (6) as Bucks looked to regain control.

Cam Parsons joined the attack with a wicket of his own, having the dangerous Rhys Lewis (30) caught behind by Richardson during his 14-ball innings.

Matt Dalrymple aimed to punish the bowling of A. Dodds, taking 13 from an over, before three quick wickets followed — Haddow struck, and Archie Dodds executed two brilliant run outs: Daniel Lincoln (12) and Charlie Dunnett (run out for a golden duck). Eddie Campion also made just two before being caught short of his ground.

At the halfway stage, Bucks appeared to be on top as Haddow dismissed Dalrymple (22), reducing the hosts to 80/6.

Josh Lincoln refused to falter, scoring 23 runs in two overs alongside partner Andy Rishton.

Wickets continued to fall, with Fleming dismissing Rishton (12) and Kervezee contributing a third run out to remove Sulaiman Akhtar (2), but the runs kept flowing.

With three overs remaining, Lincoln (48) and Adam Searle (21*) mounted a late fightback, adding 38 runs to set Bucks a challenging target of 162/9.

Unfortunately, Raykar (1) was unable to pick up where he left off, falling in the second over to Rishton.

Debutant Dodds and Friend built a quickfire 37-run partnership before Dodds (16) was caught by Campion.

Kervezee was next in, but he and Friend (30) were both dismissed shortly after — caught by Rishton off the bowling of Dunnett and Searle, respectively.

With the home side still needing 102 runs at the halfway mark, Hemp (11) was the next to fall in the twelfth over.

Richardson (19) and Bragg (22) offered a 38-run fightback in four overs, but wickets once again fell in quick succession. The remaining five wickets fell in under four overs.

Bucks were bowled out for 126, with Berkshire securing a 36-run victory.

Bucks’ next outing in this competition is against Wales NC at Ebbw Vale CC on Sunday 6th July.