Stags march into Round 3 as Sarathchandra steals the show

Playing the shorter game brought winning ways back to the Stags, as Ashtead completed a 48-run victory over Beddington in Round 2 of the 2021 Edwards Cup – the Surrey Championship T20 competition.

Beddington won the toss and elected to give Ashtead first use of a wicket that had seen previous use, but was clearly still beautiful for batting. Michael Sanderson, and the Ashtead overseas player Manoj Sarathchandra, opened the account – and it was immediately obvious that neither wanted to play quietly. Both cut loose early, with the first of Manoj’s 5 sixes coming in just the third over.

Losing Sanderson was a blow, caught and bowled for 14, but the Stags pressed their early gains by sending in the powerful striker Conor Young. He didn’t take long to begin dropping balls into the houses at both ends of the ground, and together the scoreboard raced along. By the end of the 14th over, Ashtead had reached the dizzying heights of 136-1. A mammoth total, of over 200, looked very much on the cards.

That wasn’t to be, however, as Beddington struck back hard. A pair of skied shots saw the end of Young for 42, and Sam Homes first ball, and in the very next over, Manoj would also depart – bowled for 81 off just 49 balls, with 5 fours and 5 sixes. The middle and lower order would find some more runs to add to the target, but the time was now against them. As the innings closed, the Stags had made 177-7 from their 20. Would it be enough?

Well, as the headline showed, yes. Initially, though, it was looking like a day for the batsmen, as the Beddington openers also scored well in the PowerPlay overs. By the end of the 6th, they had reached 47-0 and seemed to be cruising along.

As is so often the case with the Stags, it would be spin that did the damage. The first strike came from Tom Homes, who had also opened the bowling for Ashtead, and who regularly features in the wickets column. Then Tom Deighton, putting Saturday behind him, saw two scalps in an over – one for him and one as a witness to a calamitous run out between two brothers batting for Beddington! Ragu Aravinthan and Manoj (ever in the game) combined to take a simple wicket there.

Despite a late charge from the ever-present Ryan Cummins (who eventually finished the innings on an unbeaten 49), momentum had been lost and the damage had been done. The visitors never looked like mounting a serious threat and eventually finished on 129-6, 48 runs and a very long way short.

This result moves Ashtead through to Round 3 (the last 16) of the Edwards Cup, which will be against Esher (after they defeated Division 3 side Kingstonian) sometime before 21 June – full coverage of that match at Woodfield Lane, the home of the Stags.

Speaking of Esher, the next two days both feature Ashtead playing them at their home ground on New Road. The Friday evening fixture is the third attempt to play a National Club Championship first round game, initially scheduled for earlier in the month. That will be a T20 as well.

Esher are also the opponents, at their place, for the next league match, coming up this Saturday.

Join us again for more thrills and spills from the Ashtead Stags.